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

Recent honors, grants and publications include the following:

Honors

College of Engineering professor Arthi Jayaraman has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a designation that recognizes significant experience, expertise and commitment to promoting the value of chemical science. Jayaraman, who holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, develops and applies computational techniques to design and characterize new materials for target applications in energy, optics, photonics and biomedicine. 

Dominique J. Baker, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, Gary T. Henry, professor in CEHD’s School of Education and the Biden School, and Amy Ellen Schwartz, professor in the Biden School, were recognized as some of the nation’s top education scholars in the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. The rankings identify the 200 university-based scholars in the United States who had the biggest impact on educational practice and policy over the last year. 

Jeff Klein, senior policy scientist in CEHD’s Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP), received the Delaware Department of Education’s 2025 Data Partner of the Year Award. At CRESP, Klein plays a leadership role in project planning, sample recruitment, instrument development, data collection and management, data analyses and the production of reports, including evaluations for the Delaware Department of Education. 

Alumnus Sterling Seemans, EHD20EdD, has been named the 2026 Principal of the Year by the Delaware Association of School Administrators. Seemans is the principal of Springer Middle School in the Brandywine School District.

Grants

The Department of Art Conservation received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC). The $350,000 award will fund six WUDPAC graduate students per year for three years. WUDPAC is a premiere program in art conservation preparing graduates for careers in preserving artistic, archaeological and historical objects for museums, libraries and private collections worldwide.

Publications

Leslie F. Goldstein, Judge Hugh M. Morris Professor Emerita of Political Science, published “The Declaration of Independence and Women,” Chapter 14 in The Cambridge Companion to the Declaration of Independence, Ed. Mark Graber and Michael Zuckert (Cambridge University Press, 2026).

Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, is the author of a chapter in the recently published Neo-Victorian Decadence: Media, Genres, Eras, a volume edited by Kostos Boyiopoulos and Joseph Thorne. Her contribution is titled "‘No identity was fixed and no identity was disparaged’: Queerness, Empire and Butterflies in Sandi Toksvig’s Valentine Grey." In it, she discusses the dual stories contained in Toksvig's 2012 novel, which is set in London and in South Africa at the start of the 20th century. One of these narratives focuses on the precarious lives of gay men in the world of West End theatre during the years following Oscar Wilde's 1895 prosecution for so-called "gross indecency"; the other centers on a rebellious young woman, unwilling to conform to the restrictions of gender norms, who cross-dresses in order to serve as a "male" soldier in the British Army, but who rapidly becomes disillusioned with the racism, colonialism and other injustices underpinning the Boer War. Neo-Victorian Decadence is Volume 15 in Brill's scholarly "Neo-Victorian Series." Stetz was also an invited contributor to two earlier volumes, Neo-Victorian Cities (2015) and Neo-Victorian Humour (2017), both issued by Brill.

Rachel Karchmer-Klein, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) School of Education, published Putting AI to Work in Disciplinary Literacy: Shifting Mindsets and Guiding Classroom Instruction with Guilford Press in December 2025. The book examines how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be integrated into secondary classroom instruction to support disciplinary reading, writing and problem solving without replacing student cognition. Grounded in digital literacies research and illustrated through classroom-based examples across content areas, the book advances theory by reframing AI integration as a literacy-centered practice while also emphasizing instructional approaches that help students critically evaluate and apply AI-generated information in preparation for college, careers and civic life. Karchmer-Klein’s work underscores the importance of anchoring AI use in literacy research and ethical decisionmaking as its role in education continues to evolve.

Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair and professor in CEHD’s School of Education, published the second edition of Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn–And Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less with coauthors Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Diane Eyer in January 2026. The updated edition helps family members foster open-ended play without expensive enrichment programs or toys and includes a new chapter on the benefits and downsides of time spent with digital media. Golinkoff’s research focuses on language development, the benefits of play and preschoolers’ early spatial knowledge, among other areas. 

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