For the Record, June 12, 2015
University community reports recent honors, presentations
9:40 a.m., June 12, 2015--For the Record provides information about recent professional activities of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Recent honors and presentations include the following:
People Stories
'Resilience Engineering'
Reviresco June run
Honors
Doris Hicks, seafood specialist with Delaware Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Service, prepared the winning recipe from Coast Day 2014’s chowder challenge for the participants of the 40th annual National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fish Fry in Washington, D.C., on June 10. Sponsored by the Department of Commerce, NOAA and Sea Grant, the fish fry brings legislators together with private industry representatives and educational and nonprofit partners from across the country. Each year, participants serve and sample a wide variety of seafood, and form connections to promote the seafood industry. According to Hicks, the event was a great opportunity to connect with colleagues from other Sea Grant college programs, as well as groups from community supported fish farming to large scale trawling commissions, and to spread the word about Coast Day 2015. Coast Day, an annual community celebration of the sea sponsored by DESG and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, will be held Oct. 4.
Sharon Webb, an administrative assistant at the Elbert N. and Ann V. Carvel Research and Education Center in Georgetown, was honored with an inaugural 2015 Superior Support Accomplishment Award presented by the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) at the college’s Convocation ceremony held in Newark on May 29. The award, which will be presented by the college every other year, recognizes professional excellence and superior dedication by a University staff member serving in an administrative role. Webb received a $2,000 monetary award with the honor.
“I have worked for our college for over 28 years and I must say Sharon Webb stands out as one of the most organized, dedicated, productive and professional employees I have had the privilege of working with,” wrote Mark Isaacs, director of the Carvel Center. With 14 years of service to the University, Isaacs shared in his nomination letter that Webb is known as “Wonder Woman” for her exceptional work ethic, leadership, and everyday passion for her job, her colleagues and the University.
As a senior administrative assistant, Webb’s responsibilities cover a wide umbrella that includes overseeing the Carvel Center’s financial records, reports, budgets, payroll, audits, mileage requests, grant management and the supervision of the center’s administrative support staff. In pages of supporting documentation, colleagues were effusive in their praise for Webb as an innovator, adaptable to change, and always cheerful. Often facing a hard deadline, her meticulous attention to detail was noted, along with a cheerful countenance that never waivers. “Her car is always one of the first in the parking lot every day and it is also one of the last to leave,” wrote one co-worker.
Prior to her career with the University, Webb worked for the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc., which shared office space at the center’s prior location. Webb joined UD in April 2001. During her tenure with CANR, Webb developed a database to organize Carvel’s broad clientele. She organizes employee development, assists at all levels of the center’s working research farm and is often the first staff member to test drive new protocols, policies and procedures that are implemented from main campus. Noting her ability to multi-task, one colleague wrote, “With Sharon, it all seems to just flow.”
“Sharon is a role model for her colleagues as she demonstrates her eagerness to develop professionally — and she supports them in their educational endeavors,” said co-worker Barbara Stephens. “Sharon is one of those rare individuals that leads by example.”
Appointments
George Watson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has announced two new department chairs and a new center director, all effective Sept. 1.
Lu Ann De Cunzo, professor of anthropology who has been interim department chair for the past year, will serve as chair for a four-year term.
Hye-Shin Kim, professor of fashion and apparel studies, has been appointed chair of that department for a five-year term. In making the announcement, Watson thanked Marsha Dickson, Irma Ayers Professor of Human Services and founding department chair, for her "dedicated and effective service and vision" for the past 10 years.
Paul Brewer, professor of communication, has been appointed director of the Center for Political Communication (CPC), while Lindsay Hoffman, associate professor of communication, will serve as associate center director and director of CPC's National Agenda program. CPC founding director Ralph Begleiter will remain an affiliated faculty member of the center, with joint appointments in the departments of Communication, Political Science and English and as Distinguished Journalist in Residence, through his retirement at the end of the calendar year.
Service
Carla Guerrón Montero, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Latin America and Iberian Studies Program, was elected a member of the Committee on Ethics (COE) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), the largest professional association of anthropologists in the world.
Presentations
Irene Vogel, professor in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, has been invited to deliver a keynote address in Tianjin, China, at the first International Conference on Prosodic Studies: Challenges and Prospects, June 12-14. Her presentation, "Life After the Strict Layer Hypothesis: Prosodic Structure Geometry Without the SLH," synthesizes her research over the years following the original publication of the book Prosodic Phonology, with Marina Nespor, in 1986 (second edition 2007).
Carla Guerrón Montero, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Latin America and Iberian Studies Program, was the invited speaker at the Plenary Session, Internacionalização da Pesquisa de Turismo no Exterior, at the first Forum of the International Academy for the Development of Tourism Research in Brazil (ABRATUR), University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil: June 8-10. She presented the paper entitled “Estabelecimento e Internacionalização da Pesquisa da Antropologia do Turismo.”
To submit information to be included in For the Record, write to publicaffairs@udel.edu.
Photo by Pete Stephens