Following a reception honoring the doctoral students and Huang, Carolyn A. Thoroughgood, vice provost for research and graduate studies, welcomed graduates, Huang and their guests.
“We are here today to celebrate your earning the highest degree the University has to offer and to share that experience with all your family members, significant others and friends who have supported you throughout,” she said. “The heart of graduate education is the pursuit of new knowledge and understanding; it is through this process of discovery that the human potential of our students is developed.”
Thoroughgood said scholarly experience does not come from the lecture hall but from research in the form of projects conceived of by student and adviser and researched in libraries, laboratories and/or in the field. She said some scholars have observed that research is the highest form of a liberal arts education.
She then introduced Mary Martin, assistant provost for graduate studies, to present outstanding achievement awards to Huang and the four doctoral graduates.
The Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring Award honors a faculty member whose dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training have made significant contributions to the quality of life and professional development of graduate students at UD.
A graduate of National Taiwan University, Huang has master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He joined the UD faculty in 1974 and served as chairperson of the civil and environmental engineering department from 1996-2001. His research interests include industrial wastewater management, aquatic chemistry, in-situ physical-chemical soil remediation, chemistry of heavy metal and its control, advanced chemical oxidation technologies and cryptosporidium inactivation technologies.
Huang has published four books and more than 150 scientific research papers and served as editor of Industrial and Hazardous Wastes and co-editor of Aquatic Chemistry. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award and the Outstanding Environmental Service Award from the Overseas Chinese Environmental Engineers and Scientists Association and the Excellence in Service Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Xiaoyi Li won the Allan P. Colburn Prize in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences for his dissertation “Computational Study of Fluid Particles: Dynamics of Drops, Rheology of Emulsions and Mechanics of Biological Cells" and was awarded a doctorate in mechanical engineering. His adviser is Kausik Sarkar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
Adrian Rafael Duran won the Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities for his dissertation “Il Fronte Nuovo Delle Arti: Realism and Abstraction in Italian Painting at the Dawn of the Cold War, 1944-50," and was awarded a doctorate in art history. His adviser was Ann Eden Gibson, professor of art history.
Vedat Nefer Senoguz won the Theodore Wolf Prize in Physical and Life Sciences for his dissertation “Aspects of Inflationary Models and Unification" and was awarded a doctorate in physics. His adviser was Qaisar Shafi, professor of physics and astronomy.
Thomas B. Street won the George Herbert Ryden Prize in Social Sciences for his dissertation “Submerged Historical and Archeological Resources: A Study of the Conflict and Interface Between United States Cultural Resource Law and Policy and International Governance Measures” and was awarded a doctorate in marine studies. His adviser was Gerard J. Mangone, University research professor of international and maritime law.
Article by Barbara Garrison
Photo by Kevin Quinlan