Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters

Mariah Calagione

Celebrated and Civic-Minded Entrepreneur, just a few years after earning a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, you co-founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, playing a pivotal role in shaping a company celebrated alike for its creative beers and its community-mindedness. Together with your co-founder and husband, Sam, you grew Dogfish Head from a small, coastal brewpub in Rehoboth Beach to one of the most successful microbreweries in the country.

You’ve done many jobs throughout the years at Dogfish Head, from the mundane to the visionary. Among those was leading the company’s innovative marketing and public relations efforts. You also continue to head up its community building and philanthropic efforts, known as its Beer & Benevolence Program, which works with Delaware nonprofit, arts, and environmental groups.

In 2019, following Dogfish Head’s merger with the Boston Beer Company, you advocated for preserving craft culture amid strategic growth. You also established and continue to lead the larger organization’s Social Impact Team, focused on cause marketing for its brands, on its volunteering program, and on community engagement.

Passionate Community Builder, a native of Milford, you have always deemed it essential to give back to the community. You have served on numerous boards and advisory groups, including on the Board of Trustees of the University of Delaware. You have also served on the boards of the Nature Conservancy, the Rehoboth Film Society, and the Northfield Mount Herman School. You currently serve on the board of the Delaware Community Foundation and direct two family foundations, the Red Wagon Foundation and the Draper Holdings Charitable Foundation. In 2025 the Rehoboth Beach Main Street team named you its Citizen of the Year.

You are recognized throughout the state and the country as a successful entrepreneur for whom philanthropic endeavors are part of her ethos. Therefore, under the authority of the Board of Trustees of the University of Delaware, I have the honor of conferring on you, Mariah Draper Calagione, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. In testimony thereof, I am pleased to present to you this diploma.

Terri L. Kelly
May 23, 2026