Gene Koshinski and Tim Broscious, School of Music Faculty Artists in Residence with their group Quey Percussion Duo, recently returned from a trip to Beijing, China, where they performed Koshinski’s original double percussion concerto, soniChroma, with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra as part of the second Taihu Classical Music Festival. They were the only American musicians represented at the festival, and their performance was selected as the featured work on the closing concert of the conference. The Taihu Classical Music Festival, organized by the Beijing Symphony, is a weeklong celebration of classical music (old and new) at multiple indoor and outdoor venues throughout Beijing. The Beijing Symphony Orchestra is one of the most established and well-known orchestras in China and throughout the Eastern region.  

Honors

Laura E. Helton, associate professor in the Department of English and Department of History and associate director of the Center for Material Culture Studies, has been elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society (AAS). The AAS is a 213-year-old national research library and community of learners dedicated to discovering and sharing a deeper understanding of the American past. Helton joins a distinguished roster of more than 1,200 members from 48 states, the District of Columbia and five other countries. Elected for their achievement in academic or public life, AAS members range from scholars, collectors and librarians to artists, writers and history enthusiasts. Since its founding in 1812, AAS has elected to membership 14 United States presidents, more than 75 Pulitzer Prize winners, scores of Bancroft Prize winners, many Guggenheim fellows and several MacArthur Award winners. According to Scott Casper, AAS president, Helton was elected to membership in recognition of her “pathbreaking scholarship in African American print culture and archival studies.” Her first book, Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History, has won multiple awards, including the Merle Curti Intellectual History Award from the Organization of American Historians and the Eliza Atkins Gleason Award from the American Library Association. Helton joins UD faculty and staff previously elected to AAS membership, including Wendy Bellion, Kimberly Blockett, Martin Bruckner, John Ernest, Edward Larkin, Curtis Small and Derrick Spires.

Jacqueline Means, a junior at UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, has been awarded the prestigious Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service, becoming the first University of Delaware student to receive this national honor. Jointly established by President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, the Voyager Scholarship supports college students pursuing careers in public service. Means is among 100 students selected nationwide for the program’s 2025 cohort, representing 71 colleges and universities across 34 states and territories. A Wilmington, Delaware, native, Means is a double major in management information systems and marketing and a UD Community Engagement Scholar. At age 12, she founded the Girls Empowerment STEM Initiative, which has since engaged more than 6,500 girls in hands-on STEM education. Her work has been featured on national platforms including The Steve Harvey Show, The Today Show and The View. The two-year scholarship program provides up to $50,000 in financial aid, a $10,000 work-travel stipend with Airbnb housing credits and long-term access to the Obama Foundation’s global leadership network. Means plans to pursue a career at the intersection of technology, marketing and social impact, using data-driven insights to improve access and equity in STEM.

Teresa Hickok, assistant professor in CEHD’s School of Education, CEHD director of associate programs and program coordinator for the Wilmington campus elementary and middle school teacher education (EME) associate program, received the 2025 Rising Star Award from the Delaware American Council of Education Women’s Network (DAWN). Hickok accepted the award at DAWN’s annual awards dinner on Oct. 16, 2025, at Delaware Technical Community College’s Dover Campus. Hickok teaches courses, advises students and supervises field experiences within the Wilmington EME associate program and supports all CEHD associate programs, among other duties.

Collin Maurtua, a doctoral candidate in materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering, received an Outstanding Student Poster Award at the 39th North American Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (NAMBE 2025) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Maurtua presented his research on an ultrathin material called molybdenum disulfide, which is just three atoms thick. By creating tiny defects known as sulfur vacancies, he was able to alter the material’s interaction with light, producing distinct emissions that can be measured by photoluminescence spectroscopy. His findings could help advance quantum technologies and new methods for selective area growth, a technique that allows precise control over where materials form on a surface.

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