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

Recent presentations, publications, appointments and honors include the following:

Presentations

Dominique J. Baker, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development's School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, presented "Examining the Higher Education Policy Discourse Through 75 Years of Congressional Hearing Testimony" as part of Boston University's Education Policy Seminar Series in September 2026. Baker's research focuses on the way that education policy affects and shapes the access and success of underrepresented students in higher education, including policies related to student financial aid, college admissions and other aspects of campus climate.

Publications

Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, is the author of an article titled "Michael Field in Reigate" in the current issue of the annual scholarly journal Surrey History (Vol. XXV, 2026, pp. 11-21), a publication of the Surrey History Centre in the U.K. Her article is a study of two British women poets, Katharine Bradley (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913), a queer aunt and niece who wrote under the masculine pseudonym of "Michael Field," during the years when they were living in Reigate, Surrey - a period of great literary productivity for them. The article is accompanied by several images of items from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection in the UD Library, including an 1891 photograph of the couple. (Stetz and Samuels Lasner were the organizers of the first academic conference on "Michael Field," which was held on the UD campus in 2004.) In addition, Stetz continues to publish poetry, and her sequence of six short, related poems about death and grieving, titled "Six Haiku in the Mourning," has just appeared in Voices Unbound: An Anthology of International Poetry (Fresh Words Press, 2025, p.119; released in fall 2026). This volume is sold on Amazon.com.

Elizabeth Orsega-Smith, professor and graduate program director in the Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences, served as coeditor along with colleagues from University of Illinois, Indiana University and University of Utah for the book Health and Leisure: Making the Connections. This is the only book that ties health and leisure in the world with addressing prevalent issues such as social determinants of health, sociocultural and economic factors that impact health including aging and disabilities through the lens of physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. "This book is meaningful to academia and society as it emphasizes that health is influenced, not only by healthcare and individual behavior, but also by the opportunities people have to engage in meaningful, accessible, and socially connected leisure activities," Orsega-Smith said. "This perspective has important implications for developing more equitable approaches to health promotion and improving well-being across the lifespan."

Leigh Hibbard, a Ph.D. in education student in the College of Education and Human Development's School of Education, published "Critical Thinking as a Non-negotiable: A Case Study in Preservice Teachers' Prompt Engineering" in the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. Hibbard's research examines multimodal literacy and the ways that emerging technologies shape teaching, learning and meaning-making.

Appointments

Jennifer Horney, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the HRSA funded Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center (MAR-PHTC) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. MAR-PHTC serves as a partnership among schools of public health and public health agencies, supporting development of current and future public health workforces across Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. Strengthening the public health workforce is accomplished through customized training plans, funded internships, and practicum placements that fit the needs of state and local public health agencies. "For the University of Delaware's Public Health Program to be included as part of the advisory committee for our Regional Public Health Training Center at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health is a recognition of the program's successful accreditation and enrollment of high-quality students," Horney said. "Being part of the Advisory Committee gives our students more opportunities for paid practicum placements across the Mid-Atlantic region and also gives them access to meaningful training and professional networking opportunities."

Honors

State 4-H Youth Development Program Leader Ernie López was one of 10 recipients of the 2026 Order of the First State, Delaware's highest civilian honor, recognizing individuals whose exceptional service, leadership and achievements have made a profound and lasting impact on the state and its people. The Order of the First State is reserved for individuals whose contributions have strengthened Delaware through public service, philanthropy, education, business, the arts or community building. Gov. Matt Meyer presented the award during a ceremony on Oct. 2, 2026.

Steven P. Bailey, adjunct professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, received two American Society for Quality (ASQ) Awards this past year. At the Fall Technical Conference on Oct. 6-8, 2026, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bailey received the William G. Hunter Award, established in 1987 to encourage and promote outstanding accomplishments during a career in the broad field of applied statistics and to recognize implementers who get results. Hunter's leadership as a communicator, consultant, educator and innovator and his ability to integrate statistical thinking into many disciplines serve as exemplary models for the division's members. Bailey took Hunter's Design and Analysis of Experiments course in the early 1970s at the University of Wisconsin, and it catalyzed his career as a statistician for over 36 years at DuPont, followed by his post-DuPont career as a consultant and professor over the last decade. Earlier this year, at the ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference held Feb. 22-24, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona, Bailey received the Six Sigma Forum Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements, efforts and contributions from quality professionals who further the body of knowledge and practice of the Six Sigma methodology. Bailey was the Master Black Belt (MBB) Network leader in DuPont during its Six Sigma implementation starting in 1999 and has spent the last quarter century sharing his knowledge of advanced statistical methods, especially design of experiments, externally in numerous conference presentations.

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