April 23, 2004--Nancy R. Ashkar, 56, a 1969 UD graduate, died April 6.

A dedicated science teacher, Ms. Ashkar attended a ceremony a week before her death at the Nashoba Brooks School in Concord, Mass., which named a science lab in her honor.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Delaware, she received a master’s degree at Pennsylvania State University and then began teaching in Nebraska. In the late 1970s, she moved to Wayland, Mass., and taught on a part-time basis.

She began a local program called "Animals as Intermediaries," which brought injured animals to hospitals and prisons as part of discussions about overcoming adversity.

For six years, Ms. Ashkar was a scientist-in-residence at schools in Northborough, Newton, Medway, Medfield and Wayland. She then joined the staff of the Nashoba Brooks School as a full-time teacher in 1996, and served there until this year.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Nashoba Brooks School, Attention: Nancy R. Ashkar Science Fund, 200 Strawberry Hill Rd., Concord, MA 01742; and to Wayside Hospice, 266 Cochituate Rd., Wayland, MA 01778.