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 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. 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.

Drs. Eleanor Kiesel, Derrick Scott, Joseph Fees, Mukti Rana

Alumni

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.

X John Taylor, whose record-setting years at Delaware State led to NFL stardom, Super Bowl championships and induction into the Black College Football Hall of Fame, was selected for induction into the San Francisco 49ers’ Hall of Fame.

X Yconda “EC” Hill and Stan Waterman were named the new head coaches of the Lady Hornets and Hornets men’s basketball teams in early June. Hill came to the University from Towson University, where she was the assistant women’s basketball coach. As the boys’ basketball coach at The Sanford School in Hockessin, Waterman won an unprecedented eight State championships and won the most games in Delaware high school history.

X The Delaware State equestrian team climbed to No. 7 in late November in National Collegiate Equestrian Association Top 10 Dual Discipline Team Rankings, the best showing in team history. X Football Head Coach Rod Milstead was among the finalists for the prestigious Eddie Robinson Award for the top coach in college football’s Division I subdivision.

X Nattavadee Khunsri capped off a dominant school-record performance with a first-place finish to win the individual championship at the Navy Invitational. She finished six under par, seven strokes ahead of the runner-up.

X Tayshaun Chisholm qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110 hurdles.

Faculty / Staff

X VP of Legal Affairs LaKresha Moultrie was recognized by Delaware Today magazine as one of Delaware’s 40 most-empowering female business leaders, in part for her efforts to roll out a robust COVID-19 testing protocol that received national acclaim.

X Dr. Harry L. Williams was honored with President Emeritus status during the May 8 Commencement. Prior to becoming the CEO/ president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (his current leadership post) in 2018, Dr. Williams served as our 10th president from 2010 to the end of 2017.

X Vice President for Institutional Advancement and DSU Foundation President Dr. Vita Pickrum received the 2021 Commonfund College and University Foundation Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Under Dr. Pickrum’s leadership, the University has established strategic public and private partnerships that have yielded significant financial support and she also created the HBCU Philanthropy Symposium that has pioneered new ground in collaborative HBCU fundraising for more than a decade. “Her work with our COVID Student Emergency Relief Fund, which exceeded its fundraising goal by 60%, her hugely successful stewardship of my presidential transition team, and the work she did on Delaware State University’s 130th Anniversary Celebration exemplify her value to our community, her professional field, and to me,” said President Tony Allen.

Fond Farewells

Remembering some Hornets we lost in 2021

X Albert B. Miller, Sr., retired chairperson of the Psychology Department, passed away April 6. Dr. Miller came to Delaware State University in 1967 and was professor and chairperson of the Psychology Department for 37 years. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Barbara Stratton Miller, their four children, and many other relatives. X Minnie Pauline Walker Wilkins ’49, passed away Sept. 23 at the age of 94. She retired in 1989 after 40 years as a Home Economics teacher in schools across the state.

X Deborah Ellison Farris, Esq. ’72, passed away Oct. 29. Deborah began her career in the Dallas County (TX) District Attorney’s Office and later moved to the Public Defender’s Office, where she helped to develop an appellate section. After moving to private practice, she won release from prison for several clients who were unlawfully incarcerated and was well-known for her representation of patients with mental illnesses.

X William L. “Bull” Murray ’58 passed away Nov. 8 at the age of 85. Bull earned numerous awards for his football prowess including inductions into the Delaware State College Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. He worked in the Wilmington School District and later retired from the Christina School District with more than 30 years of service as an educator. He was preceded in death earlier in 2021 by his wife Vera Collins Murray ’58, also a longtime educator in the Wilmington and Brandywine school districts, who passed away in February. X Dr. John L. Graham passed away Nov. 27 at the age of 57. He previously served the University as assistant vice president for International Affairs and associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences. At the time of his death, he was the officer-in-charge of SUNY Potsdam while the school conducted a search for a new president.

X Rev. Dr. Shirlyn Henry Brown passed away Dec. 10 at the age of 64. Dr. Brown was a faithful servant leader in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference for nearly 20 years, most recently as senior pastor of Ezion-Mount Carmel UMC and director of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference Local Pastor Licensing School. In addition to her ministry, Pastor B served in various roles at the University for more than 20 years, including most recently as United Methodist Campus pastor, theatre director and advisor to the DSU Theatre Honor Society and Drama Club, and adjunct theatre professor.