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

Recent appointments, service, publications, presentations and honors include the following:

Appointments

Jon Sheehan has been named the new interim executive director at UD’s Biden Institute, a research and policy center working to bring together the sharpest minds and the most powerful voices to address our nation's toughest problems while educating and engaging the next generation of leaders. As a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Matt Meyer, Sheehan helped advance the administration’s priorities on education, workforce development and opportunities for Delaware’s children. His work focused on bringing stakeholders together to modernize school funding, strengthen pathways from education to careers and ensure public systems are responsive to families and communities. Sheehan also served in various roles under Gov. John Carney, including as an education policy adviser, chief of policy and deputy chief of staff. This month, Gov. Meyer nominated Sheehan to serve as the next president of the Delaware State Board of Education.

Service

Trevor A. Dawes, the vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, was invited to serve on a panel of library leaders to share insights on leadership successes and pitfalls with the next generation of library professionals. On Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, Dawes joined fellow panelists (Consuella Askew, Rutgers University, Claire DeMarco, University of Pennsylvania, and Nancy B. Turner, Temple University) at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries to address current library school students who are fellows in the Association of Research Libraries’ Kaleidoscope Program. The program is a two-year commitment designed to prepare IBPOC graduate students for purposeful and consequential careers in research libraries and archives by focusing on professional development, institutional operations, engagement with new and established peers, and other topics relevant to the values, goals, and missions of these institutions.

Publications

Farley Grubb, professor of economics, “La Monnaie Papier de L'Amérique du Nord Anglaise à L'époque Prébancaire,” Revue d’Économie Financière, 160, no. 4 (2025), pp. 217-223. This journal is the journal of the Association Europe-Finances-Regulations and sponsored in part by the Bank of France.

Presentations

Trevor A. Dawes, the vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, brought his expertise to an international audience as the featured speaker at the Japan Association of Private University Libraries (JASPUL) lecture on Jan. 28, 2026. In his virtual presentation, "Library Leadership and U.S.-Japan Collaboration," Dawes explored 21st century library leadership while bridging American and Japanese academic perspectives. He drew on his own library experience as well as his leadership role as co-chair of the Information Access Working Group within CULCON (the Japan-United States Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange), a binational panel that advises both governments on strengthening cultural and educational ties. Dawes also serves as a commissioner with the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC), reinforcing his commitment to building robust scholarly connections between the two countries.

Honors

James M. Brophy, Francis H. Squire Professor of History, received the Hans Rosenberg Book Prize from the Central European History Society for his book, Print Markets and Political Dissent: Publishers in Central Europe, 1800-1870. The award was presented this month in Chicago at the American Historical Association's annual conference.   

The University of Delaware's Advisor Network held its second annual Advising Summit on Jan. 14,,2026, for advisors and other student support roles to gather for a day of on-campus professional development. José-Luis Riera, vice president for Student Life was the summit’s keynote speaker. Three advisors were awarded the first-ever Advisor Network Excellence in Undergraduate Advising awards: Yawo Baah, an academic advisor I in University Studies, received the Academic Advisor I award; Samantha Wagner, an advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences received the Academic Advisor II award; and Keri Rodney, an academic program manager in the Lerner College of Business and Economics, received the Senior Academic Advisor award.

Calaia Jackson, a doctoral student in the public policy and administration program in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, was recently named a Class of 2026 Founders Fellow by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). Jackson and her cohort peers will present their respective research during the ASPA annual conference on March 20-24, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. 

Daniel Zorrilla Velazquez, a doctoral student in the public policy and administration program in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, was recently named a 2026 David Gould Scholar by the Section on International and Comparative Administration (SICA) of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). The scholarship honors outstanding doctoral students whose research demonstrates excellence in international and comparative public administration. Zorrilla will be formally recognized at the ASPA annual conference on March 20-24, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.

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