Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 21 Winter 1993 DeArmond receives honorary degree Anna Janney DeArmond, professor emeritus of English, was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters by the University at its Winter Commencement. G. Burton Pearson Jr., a member of the Board of Trustees for more than 40 years, conferred the degree. In the citation, Pearson hailed her as a "distinguished educator," adding that her "dedication to the University of Delaware and to education has inspired students since the beginning of (her) career more than 50 years ago...." Pearson quoted a former student who said, "Jan DeArmond has been my teacher and my friend for more than 35 years, and all of you will recognize instantly just how redundant that statement is-for the first thing any student discovers about Jan DeArmond is that if you are her student, she is your friend." DeArmond was the first recipient of the University's excellence-in-teaching award in 1954, and she received it a second time in 1972. She was also the first woman in the University's history to be promoted to full professor, and, in 1985, she was the first woman faculty member to receive the University's Medal of Distinction.