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Four alumni honored with Presidential Citations
4:57 p.m., Oct. 17, 2006--Four University of Delaware alumni received the Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement on Friday, Oct. 13, in Gore Recital Hall at the Center for the Arts. Recipients are Sujata K. Bhatia, '99 with bachelor's degrees in biology, biochemistry and chemical engineering and a master's degree in chemical engineering, a medical research scientist in biochemical sciences and engineering at the DuPont Experimental Station; Joan A. Irving, '95M, paper conservationist for the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia; J. Matthew O'Donnell, '94, morning news anchor at Philadelphia's WPVI-TV6; and Diane E. Turgeon, '95, health and fitness specialist at the U.S. Capitol. Robert Davis '71, vice president of the Office Of University Development And Alumni Relations, noted that the ceremony was the first event of the 2006 Homecoming Weekend, when the University will welcome back many of its 140,000 alumni. “This year, we honor four distinguished University of Delaware graduates,” Davis said. “Our honorees represent four of the University's academic colleges and four different majors.” President David P. Roselle welcomed the audience to the new Center for the Arts.
of science degrees in biology, biochemistry and chemical engineering, and a master's degree in chemical engineering. While enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania, Bhatia's bioengineering research results into mechanisms of immune cell and cancer cell migration were published in several journals, including Cancer Research, Biotechnology Progress and Biophysical Journal, and she was selected for a 2002 Young Investigator Award by the Lymphatic Research Foundation for her dissertation. Bhatia completed both her medical and doctoral degrees in 2003. In 2004, Bhatia, at age 27, was selected to participate in the Frontiers of Engineering symposium, an honor given by the National Academy of Engineering to the nation's top 100 engineers ages 30-45. She has published five articles, presented six conference papers and made 10 presentations to major organizations, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a National Academy of Sciences roundtable. Bhatia coordinates United Way campaigns at DuPont, volunteers for Read Aloud Delaware, and walked with Team DuPont to raise money for the American Heart Association in 2004 and 2005. She also is involved in science and engineering outreach activities and has mentored UD undergraduates and students at the Charter School of Wilmington. Bhatia said she has enjoyed watching the University's academics strengthen. “It's been great to get this award, and it's been great as a native of Delaware to watch the profile of the University of Delaware increase,” Bhatia said. “I saw this year our graduate engineering program was ranked number eleven in the entire country. Thanks to the HHMI [Howard Hughes Medical Institute] program here, Delaware is sending more students to prestigious Ph.D., M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs.” Joan A. Irving currently supervises a staff of 14 paper conservators and technicians who are responsible for conservation treatment and preservation advice to museums, libraries, archives and historical organizations throughout the country. While senior paper curator of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, Irving treated the original “Star Spangled Banner” manuscript by Francis Scott Key, Thomas Jefferson's second hand-written draft of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington's annotated copy of the United States Constitution. Irving, who received a master of science degree from UD's art conservation program, became head of the center's paper section in 2003 and now specializes in works of art on paper, manuscripts and architectural drawings. Irving is a popular workshop leader, and she has mentored and trained many of UD's graduate students during summer, third-year and postgraduate internships. Irving was the center's spokesperson on a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) American Masters documentary on John James Audubon, and recently visited and consulted with the Museum of Mobile in Alabama to help counter the effects of severe water damage from Hurricane Katrina. While a UD student, Irving rehoused a paper doll collection at Winterthur, one of the largest and most important such collections in the country, developed a conservation housing system, made a prototype volume of collection paper dolls and wrote a 14-page, step-by-step housing instruction booklet for the museum. Irving said graduates of the University's art conservation program have handled many historical items such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Matt O'Donnell is currently one of the youngest news anchors in Philadelphia. In 2005, he became a morning news anchor on WPVI-TV6 and also produces a news podcast, “Deep Six.” O'Donnell served as a panelist at a UD student media conference in 2004 and has been involved with the American Red Cross, the Philadelphia Special Olympics, the Police Athletic League, the United Way and the Variety Club. Over the years, O'Donnell has worked as a a general assignment reporter, an assignment editor, a photographer and videotape editor, a TelePrompTer operator and a studio cameraman. In 1996, O'Donnell became a street reporter at WPVI, covering stories in more than 90 percent of the cities, towns and boroughs of the tri-state viewing area. Going beyond local news, O'Donell covered the arrest of Michael Jackson in California; the death of John F Kennedy Jr.; the Philadelphia Eagles at the Super Bowl; Air Force reservists traveling to Afghanistan; the Washington, D.C.-area sniper case in 2002; and the 2003 New York City blackout. While at UD, he held several positions with The Review, the campus student newspaper, while serving as a news director at the campus radio station and writing freelance articles for the West Chester, Pa., Daily Local News. O'Donnell said his professors and jobs at The Review and campus radio station WVUD-FM helped prepare him for his career, which he was unprepared for as a freshman. “When I got to the University in 1990 as a freshman, which was the first year of President David Roselle, my dream was to be in television news, ever since I was in high school,” O'Donnell said. “When I got here, I was immature, kind of unsure about myself and had basically no clue of how to get to my dream.” Diane E. Turgeon helps maintain the physical fitness of the 14 women members of the U.S. Senate, providing them with programs in health, nutrition and exercise, as well as therapeutic massage. Turgeon is a federal employee and the first and the only health and fitness specialist at the Senate Health and Fitness Center in the Russell Senate Office. Besides administering and maintaining the facility for women senators, Turgeon also oversees the contract for a separate Senate staff exercise facility in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. After graduation from UD with a bachelor of science degree in athletic training, Turgeon completed a master's degree in health and physical education from Illinois State University in 1997. She has worked as a certified athletic trainer at Illinois Valley Community College, St. Margaret's Hospital in Spring Valley, Ill., Morgan State University in Baltimore, the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and the University of Maryland in College Park.
In 1996, Turgeon served as a certified athletic trainer and medical services volunteer for gymnastics, team handball, weightlifting, badminton and fencing at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 2000 and 2001, she served as director of athletic training for the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championships at the University of Maryland. Turgeon also has trained athletes for ACC Conference-level field hockey, soccer, baseball and volleyball tournaments. Turgeon has worked as a medical service volunteer at the Delaware Special Olympics Summer Games in 1993 and the Delaware Special Olympics track and field, soccer and basketball competition from 1992 to 1995. She also worked as a student athletic trainer for the UD Women's Cheerleading Clinic in 1994 and the UD Women's Lacrosse Clinic in 1995.Turgeon said the University's athletic training program was small enough to allow her to establish a network of close friends and colleagues. “The University of Delaware has one of the best athletic training programs in the United States and I'm very proud to have come from such a wonderful program,” Turgeon said. “Obviously it's taken me a lot further than I expected but it's been a wonderful road and I plan on continuing my journey.” Article by Julia Parmley, AS '07
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