For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni

Recent activities honors, presentations and publications include the following:

Transition

After 10 years as the inaugural director of the School of Marine Science and Policy (SMSP), Mark Moline will be stepping down at the end of his second term June 30. He will be returning to the faculty with a dual focus on advancing the undergraduate mission of the school through teaching and expanding his research activities. Moline came to SMSP at the same time as the first class of undergraduates in marine science, and he took the marine science major from a handful of first-year students in 2011-12 to the second most popular major in the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment today. An effective leader of the faculty, Moline hired a diverse group of more than a dozen faculty members, who are both building on existing SMSP strengths and beginning to create new programs. Under his leadership, SMSP has effectively used the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program as a pipeline to recruit highly qualified students into our marine science graduate program. He guided the addition of the Research Vessel Joanne Daiber to the UD fleet, further enhancing the undergraduate experience and increasing nearshore research capability. He also was instrumental in the creation of the Robotic Discovery Laboratories, which added capacity for autonomous research tools and studies. In addition, he oversaw the activities of Marine Operations, the refurbishment of Cannon, building the Physical Ocean Science laboratories in Robinson, and the restructuring of SMSP.

Research

In 1953, American couturier Ann Lowe designed the wedding dress for future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier’s marriage to John F. Kennedy, a dress that became one of the most recognizable and beloved wedding dresses in America. As a Black designer, Lowe didn’t receive proper credit for her work at the time. Katya Roelse, instructor in fashion and apparel studies, and Winterthur textile conservator Kate Sahmel recently visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston together to examine and document the construction of the original dress, which is too fragile to display on a form. Working with University students, Roelse will use the information gathered from this visit to create a reproduction of the dress for the Winterthur exhibition Ann Lowe: American Couturier, opening September 2023.

Honors

Rachel Jaffe, an Honors student in biological sciences, has received the 2022 Bryant-Howard Medical Research Award, which will enable her to attend the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Summer Internship Program in Baltimore. The award includes a $3,000 stipend, housing, shuttle service, program activities and a contribution toward expenses traveling to and from the JHU campus.

Publications

Neil Lanctot, UD alumnus (Ph.D., 2002) and longtime instructor in the Department of History, is the author of a new book, The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams, and Their Clash Over America’s Future, published by Riverhead/Penguin. It looks at the path to the most crucial decision in American history: the decision to join the Allies in World War I. “This fateful decision not only changed the course of the war, but the course of the 20th century,” Lanctot said. “The story is told through three giants of the Progressive era --Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jane Addams -- each with a very different idea of how America should respond to the Great War and what our role should be on the world stage.” The book has received several positive reviews. Publishers Weekly called it “a rich and rewarding portrait of a crucial turning point in American history,” and Booklist wrote, “Lanctot’s focus on the roles of … three titanic figures contributes a unique and valuable view of America’s place in the Great War’s genesis.”

Presentations

Bill Sullivan, managing director of the Courtyard by Marriott, Newark – University of Delaware, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Hospitality and Sport Business Management in the Lerner College, and a UD alumnus, participated in a panel discussion of industry experts on “Hotels: The First State’s Hotel Boom,” presented March 9, 2022, by the Commercial-Industrial Realty Council. Also participating were UD alumni Andrew DiFonzo, vice president of operations for Tko Hospitality, and Dinaker Mallya, a director with HVS Philadelphia.

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