MILESTONES The 2020-2021 Faculty Excellence Awards were presented to: X Teaching: Dr. Joseph Fees, Assistant Professor of Spanish. Dr. Fees has played an instrumental role in refining the Department of Language and Literatures’ language programs and curriculum. He has designed online Spanish courses and created a community page with numerous resources for Spanish instructors. In addition to improving the content and assessments of many upper-division Spanish classes, Dr. Fees has also established a new Medical Spanish course, which was first offered in the spring of 2019.
X Service: Dr. Eleanor M. Kiesel, Associate Professor of Social Work. Dr. Kiesel came to DSU in 2015 after practicing law with the Community Legal Aid Society for 17 years and continues to provide legal representation for those in poverty and serves as a volunteer attorney for children in foster care. In higher education, she has provided Middle States with documentation that charts the last several years of Del State’s accomplishments, opportunities, and challenges. Dr. Kiesel is developing a Domestic Violence Specialist certificate program, as well as a minor and associate degree program in Social Work. X Advising: Dr. Mukti Rana, Professor of Physics and Engineering. Dr. Rana has mentored and advised 124 middle school, 56 high school, 200-plus undergraduate and 33 graduate students since the fall of 2015. He has also mentored and advised seven junior faculty members and three post-doctoral research associates. He is the founding faculty advisor of the University’s student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. His work with students led NASA to present Dr. Rana with its 2019 Faculty Mentor of the Year Award.
Alumni Drs. Eleanor Kiesel, Derrick Scott, Joseph Fees, Mukti Rana
X Research and Creative Activity: Dr. Derrick Scott, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences. Dr. Scott has published six papers in peer-reviewed journals, given 18 presentations, and applied for 13 grants. Of those grants, nine were funded—$7 million as a principal investigator, $1 million as a coinvestigator, as well as a $6 million collaborative grant in which he managed the $443,264 sub-award to Del State. Dr. Scott leverages his strength in research by his instrumental role in the creation of the Bioinformatics Program and the Biopharmaceutical and Manufacturing Technology concentration in partnership with industry giant Merck.
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X Leah Williams, ’15 and ‘16, made University history when she became the first undergraduate to earn both the Presidential Leadership Award and the Presidential Academic Award. Three degrees later, she became the youngest elected national president of the DSU Alumni Association at age 28.
X Basketball star Maurice Pritchett ’65 was one of six 2021 inductees into the Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame. Recognized as one of the top defenders in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), Pritchett was the Hornets’ leading rebounder in two seasons and served as team captain during his senior year. X Sidney Sessoms, Jr. and Vincent Adkins ’88 were named director of bands and assistant director of bands, respectively. Sessoms attended DSU from 1980-1985 and served as the director of bands at three other schools before returning home. Adkins taught music and band to public school students for 32 years, and brings expertise in drill design, marching fundamentals, and jazz. X Cathleen Trigg Jones ’92 and Darnerien McCants ‘01 hosted our firstever DSU Gratitude Reception during Homecoming to thank our donors for their lifetimes of continuing commitment and support.
Athletic Successes X Katie Robb, a junior on the Lady Hornets bowling team, became the University’s first-ever National Champion by winning the 2021 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles competition. X The Delaware State volleyball team added another chapter to its historic 2021 season, with an invitation to the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Tournament, marking the first national postseason competition in team history. X Catherine Glenn won the women’s javelin throw in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a mark of 36.52 meters (119 feet, 9 inches). X The University became the second HBCU in the nation to add women’s triathlon as a varsity sport, and the eighth overall at the NCAA Division I level. The team’s first recruit was Danielle Fleurima of Ohio, who was a 12-letter athlete in cross country, swimming, and track, followed by Chara Hinds, the Barbados’ national triathlon women’s champion. The team began competition in the fall 2021 season and competed in the National Championships in November.
