1:37 p.m., May 4, 2007--Joseph (Joe) D'Agostino and Kathryn (Kate) LaPrad have been named the outstanding man and woman of UD's Class of 2007 and, as such, are the recipients of the Warner and Taylor awards, given annually by the UD Alumni Association.
The Alexander J. Taylor Sr. Award, first awarded in 1968, is named in honor of Alexander J. Taylor Sr. (1875-1940) and is presented to the outstanding senior man. The Emalea Pusey Warner Award, honors the late Mrs. Warner (1853-1948), and has been given to the outstanding senior woman since 1950.
Emalea Pusey Warner is remembered as a champion of education. In 1911, she became chairperson of the State Federation of Women's Clubs' Committee on Education, working diligently toward establishing a state-supported women's college in Delaware. She later became the first woman member of the Delaware College Board of Trustees. Both Warner Hall on the UD campus and Warner Elementary School in Wilmington are named in her honor.
Valedictorian of the Class of 1893 with a degree in civil engineering, Alexander J. Taylor Sr. was an active alumnus who was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1927, 1932 and 1938, serving on the Grounds and Buildings Committee, the Executive Committee and chairing the Finance Committee. Taylor Hall was named in his honor.
Students considered for the $2,500 awards must have demonstrated leadership, academic success and community service as exemplified by Mrs. Warner and Mr. Taylor. Applicants also must have a cumulative grade point index of 3.0 or better at the end of the first semester of their senior year. The awards are presented each year at a luncheon with UD President and Mrs. David P. Roselle, held on Honors Day. The recipients also lead the alumni delegates' procession at Commencement.
Joseph D'Agostino, BE '07, Northport, N.Y.
D'Agostino, describes himself as “just a normal kid, a family man, the oldest of four in a close-knit family.” He could also be voted the most likely UD grad to someday appear on Donald Trump's The
Apprentice.
A native of Northport, N.Y., D'Agostino has already lived uptown in a Manhattan brownstone on Central Park West, on the Upper West Side, provided for him when he worked last summer as an intern for Aon, a risk brokerage and consulting firm that has offered him a full-time job after graduation. As one of 51 college juniors nationwide chosen to work in the prestigious summer associate program, he worked in Aon's Risk Services New York Account Executive Group, handling the nation's most complex corporate clientele.
When he settles in as a full-time employee of the Fortune 250 Company, D'Agostino will work as a directors' and officers' liability broker finding buyers of high-level corporate risk in the market place.
D'Agostino said he chose UD because of the honors program and the recommendation of friends. While on campus he was active in the Delaware Undergraduate Student Congress, serving as city relations liaison, city relations chief and as a faculty senator. He led a student movement to peacefully resolve concerns about the city of Newark's zero tolerance noise policy.
He also served as philanthropy chairperson of Sigma Chi fraternity, where he led an effort to raise more than $4,500 for the American Cancer Society. He is the founder and president of the Delaware Intercollegiate Debate Team, was a member of the Judicial Appellate Board and taught in the Freshman Year Experience program.
Marilyn Prime, director of student centers, who described D'Agostino as “the all-American student,” said, “Joe's undergraduate accomplishments are not only impressive, but also show commitment and positive efforts in building community partnerships. Joe truly represents the Delaware spirit, campus leadership and community service exemplified by the Taylor Award.”
Academically, D'Agostino was mentored by Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, where D'Agostino worked during his senior year. “Joe is the perfect model for this award,” Elson said. “He is extremely bright, involved with the institution, exactly the kind of student UD should attract. He's also a very hard worker. Joe worked at the center this fall and helped me immeasurably on some articles I had written, on planning some activities for the center, as well as serving as my TA. He's bright, capable, organized and has a real abiding interest in UD.”
D'Agostino also worked closely with James Magee, chairperson of the Department of Political Science and International Relations. In an independent study program under Magee's tutorage, D'Agostino wrote “Affirmative Action in University Admissions: The Final Hour?” a paper that explores the constitutional underpinnings of racially conscious admissions programs. D'Agostino presented the paper at the Research Symposium in the Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico last month.
“In a nutshell, Joe D'Agostino is a highly intelligent young man with excellent academic and leadership credentials, with intellectual curiosity and pursuits that go well beyond his major. He is an active citizen with a genuine interest in public policy issues and the functioning of the political system in general. He is a mature, tolerant and polished young man with a wonderful personality, and he loves UD,” Magee said.
D'Agostino's other academic honors include enrollment in the University Honors Program and membership in the Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Lambda Delta honor societies. He is the recipient of a UD Study Abroad Scholarship, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation's National Business Plan Competition award, two UD Honors' Program Scholarships and a General Honors Award. He also was a venture finalist in the 2006 UD Business Plan Competition.
This summer D'Agostino will participate in a UD study abroad trip to explore journalism in the Tuscan Valley in Italy. He eventually hopes to earn an MBA and a law degree. He is the son of Robert and Mary D'Agostino and his younger brother, Bobby, also is enrolled in UD.
Kathryn LaPrad, AS '07, Seaford
It's safe to say that just about everything interests LaPrad, a fast-talking, energetic young woman with majors in art and art history and minors in medieval studies and American material culture studies.
A Rhodes Scholarship finalist and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, LaPrad, a native of Seaford, said she was attracted to UD because of its study abroad program and the opportunity it offered for personal interaction with professors. She initially enrolled as a history major but by the end of her freshman year had discovered art history as well.
“I'm interested in colonial history and American art history and historical trends that manifest themselves in art,” she said. “All of that also ties into my minors. Museums are almost a form of art in themselves. They are a way to preserve cultures and to convey the collective history of a people.
“Museums are repositories for our culture and, as the world changes, museums become the rock that we can look back to discover our past and the places we can trust to keep collecting into our future.”
Her academic adviser, Wunyabari Maloba, associate professor of history, said, “There are many great things to say about Kate. She is without any doubt, one of the most intellectually gifted students that I have ever advised and taught in my career here at the University of Delaware. Beyond this, however, is her humility, compassion, quiet courage, passion for social justice and a definite willingness to serve....She is truly a very distinguished person.”
Wendy Bellion, assistant professor of art history, said, “I was
fortunate to have Kate as a student in two courses. She is a joy to teach: the sort of student who soaks up what you have to offer, then takes the initiative to pursue her learning far outside the classroom, whether that means exploring colonial churches in Massachusetts or interviewing historical actors in Colonial Williamsburg. We're all immensely proud of her in the department of art history and expect that she'll go on to enjoy much success in the future.”
The summer after her freshman year, LaPrad found herself working as an intern at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover. She has also worked as a program coordinator and summer day camp director at Plimoth Plantation, the 1627 English Village at Plymouth, Mass., where she also gained experience in grant writing. This year she interned in the public programming office at Winterthur Museum and Country Estate.
LaPrad participated in three Winter Session trips abroad to study museums in London, European history in France and music and culture in Italy. Back on campus, she has lived in Warner Hall for the past two years. “Mrs. Warner looks at me from her portrait every time I walk in, and so it's especially meaningful to receive the award that is in her name,” she said.
As a DuPont Scholar, LaPrad was one of 17 incoming students selected from 22,000 applicants in 2003 to receive full tuition, living expenses and books for her time at UD. During her sophomore and junior years, she chaired the DuPont Scholars lecture series that brings scholars, politicians and academic speakers to campus. Under her leadership the series included speakers on renewable energy and public health.
She also is an Alison Scholar, one of 10 students in each class so honored for their strong interest and abilities in liberal arts. She was a first place recipient of the Edward H. Rosenberry Undergraduate Writing Award for her work, “Heavenly Hedonist, or Holy: Richard Upjohn Churches Past and Present” and won an Art History Faculty Award for Academic Excellence.
LaPrad is a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honors society and served as its secretary and president. For the past three years she has been a member of Students Acting for Gender Equality (SAGE) and has participated in organizing Sexual Assault Awareness Week and the annual Take Back the Night march.
She also is treasurer and a founding member of Uganda Untold, a student organization committed to raising awareness and educating people about the history and the current conflict in Northern Uganda.
LaPrad worked in two mentoring positions at UD. She was a Russell Fellow mentoring freshmen in the Honors Program and a LIFE (Learning Integrated Freshman Experience) peer mentor for students enrolled in the associate of arts program in Georgetown in her native Sussex County. With one group she organized a program to donate books to a library in New Orleans and with the other she organized a Sussex County photo exhibit.
Throughout her UD career she has maintained a 3.97 grade point average, earning one of her A minuses in differential equations, a memory that makes her blush as she talks about her tentative plans to teach high school math in the Mississippi Delta for a year after graduation as part of the Teach For America program. She also is exploring a number of jobs in museum education and museum development.
“Getting to know Kate and working with her these past four years has been a pleasure because Kate is so generous with her time and abilities,” Katharine Kerrane, senior associate director of the UD Honors Program, said. “Kate is committed to making our diverse past come alive, including our heritage from Native Americans. She is one of those superbly competent people. Kate immediately grasps what needs to be done and then efficiently sets out to accomplish the task in a friendly and gracious manner. She's added so much to the UD community in the four years that she's been here. I'll miss her when she graduates, and I know she'll be equally successful in the next stage of her life.”
Article by Beth Thomas
Photos by Kathy Atkinson