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Trustees hear of student, faculty achievements
3:58 p.m., May 25, 2006--UD Provost Dan Rich recognized faculty achievements May 23 at the semiannual meeting of UD's Board of Trustees before introducing three students who have received academic honors, including being named Truman Scholars. “The true value of a UD education is the actual experience communicated by those who have been the beneficiary of that education,” Rich said. “One extraordinary accomplishment that they all share is that they are all Truman Scholars. UD has had six Truman Scholars in the last five years and 16 since the program was established three decades ago.” Ming-Jay Shiao A senior electrical engineering major from Stow, Ohio, Ming-Jay Shiao volunteered his services in impoverished communities in South Africa. He plans to study energy and environmental policy in graduate school so that he can pursue his interest in the implementation of renewable energy technologies in less-developed regions of the world. “My first UD experience was the scholar's weekend during my senior year in high school,” Shiao said. “I'm not sure what moved me the most about UD, whether it was the architecture or the interesting students and faculty members, but I have never regretted the decision to come here.” Shiao said that being eight hours away from home has been difficult at times, but that the support he has received through his personal and professional connections at UD will last a lifetime. He also stressed the importance of his involvement in extracurricular activities. “My work on the allocations board, which funds student organizations, has taught me that the true spirit of leadership lies in the integrity of respect and compromise,” Shaio said. “I've also learned the true healing and unifying power of music.” As a Blue Hen Ambassador, Shaio said he learned that even college students can be enthusiastic and energized at 7:30 a.m., and that there are administrators who care for students and are willing to make changes that the students recommend.
That learning experience came for Shaio when he participated in a Study Abroad program in South Africa, where he said he gained an “incredible knowledge about the destructive grip of poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.” Besides assisting in solar cell, research Shaio also has been challenging himself academically by participating in a curriculum that included taking graduate-level classes. Shaio said that his only regret is that he cannot explore all the seemingly inexhaustable experiences available to all students at UD. “I believe that if I had gone to any other university I would never have been as proud of my accomplishments, as thirsty for intellectual and cultural enrichment and as blessed with wonderful faculty and staff and student advisers and friends,” Shaio said. “When I look back on these last four years, I think back to when I was a freshman standing on Main Street looking down at Memorial Hall and thinking to myself that no matter what the weather conditions, the view of UD is simply breathtaking.” Dalit Gulak A senior foreign languages and literatures major and a 2005 Truman Scholar, Dalit Gulak also is a Dean's Scholar in Hispanic culture and medicine. She will be joining the Nurse-Midwifery/Women's Health Program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., next year. She also is the recipient of the Emalea Pusey Warner Award give by the UD Alumni Association to the outstanding senior woman. Gulak said that, if she had to describe her experience at UD in one word, that word would be “opportunity.” “I did not come here on a full scholarship, and I am not from Delaware. I came from a small town in Maine with a mind and heart eager to learn,” Gulak said. “I soon met some of the most intelligent, admirable and supportive professors, advisers, honors program and administrative staff to ever grace a university campus.” Gulak also said that every time she would hit some kind of academic barrier, the University would step in and provide assistance, even allowing her to create her own major. “I didn't find a major that exactly fit my interest, but that wasn't quite good enough for the University,” Gulak said. “With every barrier I hit, I was directed to do something, like make my own major.”
“In the fall semester of my junior year, I had the opportunity to study abroad in the Dominican Republic, where I took classes in a little medical school,” Gulak said. “I was working in a little rural hospital studying the doctor-patient relationships of pregnant women. One day when I was taking notes in the local delivery room, I overheard English being spoken in the operating room next door, and not English with a Dominican accent, but English with a pure New Yorker accent.” The English seemed to be spoken in a tone of panic, so she went to the operating room to see if her bilingual skills could be of use to help alleviate the frantic situation, Gulak said. “I was graciously accepted by a team of American spinal surgeons whose interpreter had failed to show up,” Gulak said. “They had a little girl with her spine completely open lying on the operating table, and they could not communicate with the anesthesiologist or the nurse.” Thus began a three-day marathon of 14-hour days serving as a translator for the surgical team. “On the first day, when the tension began to alleviate and we got the situation under control, I began to talk to the other surgeons and mechanical engineers and product design people that were there and they asked me where I attended school,” Gulak said. “When I proudly answered the University of Delaware, almost all of them nearly dropped their scalpels. When those that could were able to pull up their scrubs, five of the eight had UD T-shirts on. In a rural clinic in the Dominican Republic, I was surrounded by five UD alumni. That to me is what being a Warner recipient and a UD student and alumni representative means to me.”
“There are three kinds of groups, those who make things happen, those who wait for things to happen and those who wonder what happened,” Gulak said. “I am proud to stand here today among those who represent and dedicate their lives to UD and tell you that UD boldly stands among the first group of people who make things happen.” Thomas Isherwood A senior international relations major and a 2005 Truman Scholar, Thomas Isherwood was one of two UD students who won Marshall Scholarships last fall. He also is the recipient of the Alexander J. Taylor Sr. Award as the outstanding man given by UD Alumni Association.
He said he began his UD academic career as an international relations and economics major, but during his sophomore year decided he wanted more of an academic challenge, so he enrolled in a graduate-level course. “The next semester I took two graduate courses, and the next semester I was enrolled simultaneously as a graduate and undergraduate student,” Isherwood said. “This presented some headaches to my advisers, but nobody every told me that I couldn't do it. This is the kind of flexibility that UD can be proud of.” Isherwood said he also appreciates the relationships he developed working with faculty as a undergraduate researcher. “I worked with four different professors on three different research projects. None of these relationships are purely just professional. I have been invited back to at least seven or eight of their homes,” he said. “The kind of commitment that professors show here is admirable, and you won't find that in a course book.” Another component of the UD experience that Isherwood said he found to be of great help was the “really outstanding mentoring” he received from UD in general and the Honors Program in particular. “I've had some really amazing opportunities here, and, because of this, I am more self-aware and more confident than when I arrived here,” Isherwood said. “This didn't happen just because of me. The flexibility provided by the University of Delaware over the past four years will add a dimension to my experience and really allow me to grow in ways that I didn't expect.” Article by Jerry Rhodes
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