For the Record, Sept. 11, 2026

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent appointments, grants and honors include the following:

Appointments

Fei Xie has been appointed the Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair of Corporate Governance in the University's Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. Xie, who previously held the Chaplin Tyler Professorship, was selected for the endowed chair in recognition of his scholarly achievements and contributions to corporate governance research. The Woolard Chair supports excellence in corporate governance teaching and research while strengthening connections between Lerner College and corporate and legal communities in Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic region. In conjunction with the appointment, Xie will serve as faculty director of research for corporate governance. In this role, he will help connect and showcase corporate governance research across Lerner and strengthen collaboration among faculty, the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance and the broader research community.

Grants

Salil Lachke, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biology, received a new NIH R03 grant for $158,430 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Lachke discovered that deficiency or mutations of the RNA granule component TDRD7 causes cataract in humans (Science 2011, Human Molecular Genetics 2020). Since Lachke's original report, TDRD7 mutations have been linked to human cataract worldwide and the gene is currently on the UK's clinical gene panel for genetics-based diagnostics of congenital cataract. The new grant award will allow the Lachke lab to characterize the eye pathology associated with this understudied protein linked to this human syndrome with cataract and azoospermia birth defects.

Honors

Curators Jessica Mungekar and Cherie Lee have selected Greg Shelnutt's sculpture, Alchemical Displacement, for the exhibition, "Re:Form-How Is Freedom Shaped?" Presented by Philadelphia Sculptors and Fall of Freedom, the exhibition runs from Oct. 2-30, 2026, at Art on the Ave in Philadelphia. The opening reception is scheduled from 6-9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 2. Shelnutt is professor of art in the sculpture area of the Department of Art and Design.

Two new members of the University of Delaware Police Department (UDPD) recently graduated from the 106th Delaware State Police Academy and the 102nd Municipal Police Class and earned recognition for their work. Christian D'Agostino was presented with the Delaware State Police Academy Core Value Award, and James Young received the Outstanding Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police Award. The officers started the training academy in March and will continue with field training for an additional three months before being assigned to a patrol squad.

Department of Art and Design MFA alum (2026), Zoe Ellwood, has been selected to receive a 2026 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center (ISC). This highly competitive international award was juried by Philip Barlow, Sarika Goulatia and Brighton McCormick. The award comes with a group exhibition, a one-year complimentary membership to the ISC, inclusion in a feature article in the January/February 2027 issue of Sculpture magazine and a feature page on the ISC website dedicated to the 2026 student award recipients. Elwood also received an ISC Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award certificate. The International Sculpture Center (ISC) established the annual Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award program in 1994 to recognize young sculptors and to encourage their continued commitment to the field, as well as to draw attention to the sculpture programs of the participating universities, colleges and art schools.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to [email protected] and include "For the Record" in the subject line.