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INVENTING TOMORROW

INVENTING TOMORROW
Delaware First Impact Report

University of Delaware faculty and students are working every day to save lives, protect the planet and build a more just world. On any given day, our scholars and scientists are addressing today’s grand societal issues head-on, while also preparing the next generation of changemakers to use logic, collaboration and curiosity to create solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

 

Delaware First donors embraced this bold vision and funded our future by providing the space, tools and opportunities to drive innovation.

 

DISCOVER THIS SECTION:

Broadening Research & Programs | Bolstering Expert Faculty | Enhancing Graduate Education | Honoring Donors through Recognition Societies

BROADENING Research & Programs

IMMERSE DELAWARE LAB | BOREL GLOBAL FELLOWS | EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH | BIDEN SCHOOL SNF ITHACA INITIATIVE | HORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP | INSTITUTE FOR ENGINEERING DRIVEN HEALTH

The Blue Hen experience is more than just what happens in the classroom. It’s the innovative programs that give students an opportunity to put their academics to work. It’s the research projects that not only provide invaluable experience but also create solutions to societal challenges.

 

Campaign donors have funded exceptional resources for the programs and research projects that will help set Blue Hens apart when they continue their studies or pursue their careers—empowering them to change the world.

$62 million raised for private research funds

189 program and research funds

 

Immerse Delaware Lab

IMMERSE DELAWARE LAB

The University partnered with the Waters Corporation to open Immerse Delaware Lab in May 2022. The new lab, located in the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center, allows UD students to work in a fully functional bioprocessing lab, enabling a dedicated focus on the entire manufacturing process of drug treatments.

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Students, faculty and industry researchers work side-by-side using and evaluating state-of-the-art analytical technologies and methods that will enable the next generation of biotherapeutics.

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Shem Msablia, AMR24

BOREL GLOBAL FELLOWS

Shem Msabila, ANR24, from Tanzania, Africa never even imagined the possibility of researching plants in the United States. He had heard “no” too many times to have hope in pursuing research that will make a difference in his home country.

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But funding from Marcia Borel and Jim Borel, a Board of Trustees member, through the Borel Global Fellowship helped Msabila experience more than he could have ever dreamed. He will take what he is studying here and bring the discoveries home to benefit his community.

Msabila’s research is centered on the effects of harvesting premature or “baby” ginger rather than yielding the mature ginger at the end of its traditional growth cycle. With more efficient ginger production, Tanzania has the potential to reap many economic and health benefits.

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Mary Dozier

EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH

Relationships and connections are the backbone of Mary Dozier’s research—in the laboratory, the field and even through philanthropy.

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As the Unidel Amy Elizabeth du Pont Chair in Child Development in UD’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dozier researches the bonds between children and caregivers. The impact of her work is far-reaching and personal. In fact, Dozier and her team have trained more than 1,000 coaches and practitioners in successful bond-building, ultimately benefiting children and their families in 20 states and 10 nations.

Her success was bolstered thanks to donor Edna Bennett Pierce, who met Dozier in 2005 at a dinner introducing UD faculty members. Talking to Dozier struck a chord—Pierce had studied child development at her own alma mater and went on to have a large family herself, with three of her children going on to be Blue Hens. Pierce decided to make a generous gift to support Dozier’s research and she was dedicated to contributing to the funding throughout the years before her passing in 2022.

“With Edna’s support, I’m able to do cutting-edge work—and often get very exciting results—that traditional funding agencies wouldn’t support at this stage,” Dozier says. “For example, to get a grant from the National Institutes of Health you have to have evidence that what you’re investigating works; it can’t be the kind of exploratory work that Edna allows me to do.”

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SNF Civil Discourse Dialog

BIDEN SCHOOL SNF ITHACA INITIATIVE

In the fall of 2021, the University’s Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration launched a program to advance civil discourse and strengthen democracy. With support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the SNF Ithaca Initiative cultivates engaged and effective citizens and facilitates college students coming together from across the country to work in partnership to develop policy solutions.

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In its first year, the Biden School's SNF Ithaca Initiative established a new curriculum focused on democratic citizenship, hosted universities from across the nation, hired a new SNF Chair and conducted critical research on the democratic principles of civil discourse and civic engagement.

The SNF Ithaca Student Leaders program also launched in the first year with five exceptional undergraduate students who conducted research projects on civil discourse; were trained to lead a national student dialogue across differences; and obtained internships to apply what they were learning.

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Horn : youtube.com/watch?v=ed6bWzl24dI

HORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • 954+ ventures launched
  • $99 million in continued startup funding

In October 2022, UD’s Horn Entrepreneurship celebrated its 10th anniversary of empowering aspiring innovators as they pursue new ideas for a better world.

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The initiative was founded by Charlie Horn, AS75 and director Dan Freeman. Over the past decade, the entrepreneurship initiative has grown and thrived with Horn’s vision and philanthropy as well as with the dedication of Freeman and his team.

Today, students pursuing any degree at UD can take Horn Entrepreneurship classes, participate in startup competitions, earn critical certifications, gain in-depth experience through immersive internships, utilize the Venture Development Center to start their own companies, explore leadership lessons, summer mentorship opportunities and much more.

WE Hatch in Horn Entrepreneurship
WE Hatch aims to empower women in innovation and entrepreneurship through a variety of seminars and workshops, networking and community building, mentorship and venture funding support. Each prong of the initiative addresses disadvantages experienced by women startup founders and corporate innovators.

Philanthropic support from Campaign donors provided and continues to provide enhanced opportunities, expanded programming and startup support for women entrepreneurs, ultimately resulting in greater success, greater societal impact and incredible global economic impact.

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David and Connie Helwig, both 1973 UD graduates, committed a multimillion gift to launch the Institute for Engineering Driven Health at UD.

INSTITUTE FOR ENGINEERING DRIVEN HEALTH

With rapid changes in medicine and technology, the University created the Institute for Engineering Driven Health in 2021 to apply engineering strengths and approaches to healthcare. The new institute launched as part of Delaware First with a generous multimillion-dollar gift from David, EG73, and Connie Helwig, BE73.

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The institute will begin with a focus on:

  • targeted gene therapies
  • minimally invasive procedures
  • wearable technology
  • other innovative treatments for the most debilitating diseases afflicting humans

In 2022, Jill Higginson, a mechanical and biomedical engineering professor, was named the inaugural director of the institute.

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| IN THEIR WORDS

Dr. Udit Batra

“Our mission to address some of the biggest challenges in the development and manufacturing of biotherapeutics requires an immense amount of work, collaboration and diversity of thought. Immerse Delaware will enable us to tap into an ecosystem of talent and expertise in biological manufacturing, coupled with Waters’ experience in analytical technologies, to advance and accelerate the delivery of high-quality medicines to patients.”

–Dr. Udit Batra, president and CEO of Waters Corporation

Samiya Sherman, BSPA23

“Civil discourse is not just polite debating. Civil discourse makes it easier for both sides of an argument to get their points across, while also having each other actively listen to each other's points. Civil discourse is a tool for understanding differences.”

–Samiya Sherman, BSPA23

Charles Horn, AS75

“I think almost all the things that have made the world great have come from humans’ ideas, concepts and inventions but those innovations are only actualized when an entrepreneur is involved. You can find entrepreneurs in almost any type of organization — nonprofits, government, and, of course, businesses. They have taken great ideas and manifested them into action.”

—Charles Horn, AS75, co-founder of and investor in Horn Entrepreneurship

Isabella Duarte, BE24

“In my high school entrepreneurship class, I was the only girl, and I’m so happy that once I got to UD, I have the wonderful WE Hatch. WE Hatch has made me feel so incredibly supported and celebrated in entrepreneurship. Connecting with female innovators and entrepreneurs has truly meant the world to me.”

–Isabella Duarte, BE24

Jill Higginson

“What’s most exciting about the new Institute is streamlining access to products, processes and services — designed by engineers — that have the potential to benefit human health. Improving access to our partners on the consumer and clinical side is an exciting way to create pipelines of opportunities to connect people who have identified health and mobility needs with those who are equipped to engineer the solutions.”

–Jill Higginson, mechanical and biomedical engineering professor and director of the Institute for Engineering Driven Health

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BOLSTERING EXPERT FACULTY 

LERNER FACULTY FELLOWS FUNDS | RETIRED FACULTY MEMBER PAYS IT FORWARD | ROBERTSON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF MARINE SCIENCE AND POLICY

Our UD faculty are researchers, problem-solvers, innovators and leaders. They’re engaging students, helping them dream big while providing strong academic grounding and inspiration to pursue solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s grand challenges.

 

Faculty support from Delaware First donors allows the University to attract and retain the best and brightest—enabling them to uncover ground-breaking discoveries—through endowed, named professorships as well as research and discretionary funds.

46 professorships and chair funds

$85.6 million raised for faculty

Araya Debessay

LERNER FACULTY FELLOWS FUNDS

UD’s Lerner College of Business and Economics knows that students achieve greater success with strong role models guiding them academically, professionally and personally.

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Professors Araya Debessay and Robert L. Paretta inspired generations of Blue Hens through their accounting classes. To honor their legacies as they retired during the Delaware First campaign, past students and colleagues established the Dr. Robert Paretta Faculty Fellows and Dr. Araya Debessay Faculty Fellows funds.

The funds are used to attract and retain key faculty to Lerner, provide research support, professional development and/or allow the faculty members to employ graduate students. Ultimately, the students benefit from being taught by inspiring faculty leaders.

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Daniel Chester

RETIRED FACULTY MEMBER PAYS IT FORWARD

Throughout his 40 years of teaching computer and information sciences at the University, Dan Chester has always believed in investing in and uplifting colleagues and students, hoping to make a difference that would inspire others to do the same.

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A retired associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS), Chester now provides long-lasting and extensive support for faculty and students with a broad-ranging multi-million-dollar commitment for the College of Engineering (COE) through Delaware First.

Chester’s gift established a student enrichment fund to enhance the academic experience and in undergraduate research; a mid-career professorship to help the department retain top talent; a graduate fellowship in CIS to help offset the cost of tuition and stipends; and a discretionary fund to provide the department chair with the ability to respond to the greatest departmental needs.

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Matt Oliver

ROBERTSON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF MARINE SCIENCE AND POLICY

Research from the depths of the oceans can shed light on many critical environmental challenges. Few people know this in greater, real-time detail than Matt Oliver, the Patricia and Charles Robertson Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and Policy.

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Dedicated giving from longtime UD donors with a passion for science and the coastlines, Patricia and Charles Robertson, ensures Oliver’s breakthrough research with high-tech, deep-diving tools continues.

The support enables him and his students to plumb the depths of the sea with a fleet of high-tech tools: A 146-foot research ship. Torpedo-like, robotic “gliders” that swim with sharks. Probes that descend to 2,000 meters in Antarctic waters, then bob to the surface to transmit data.

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| IN THEIR WORDS

Thomas Gutshall, EG60

“Faculty members are the lifeblood of higher education. I can think of no greater way to attract the very best and sustain excellence at UD than to create a named professorship position.”

—Thomas Gutshall, EG60, established the Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Career Development Chair in Engineering

Thomas H. Epps, III

“For many of us, when we’re lucky enough to get a chair or become a named professor, we view it as a great honor recognizing us for what we have done in our work so far and as a promise of what is yet to come. The funding from the Thomas & Kipp Gutshall Career Development Chair fund was critical in providing opportunities to take a little bit of risk and try something I hadn’t done before. The recent named position will enable me to come up with strategies for getting critical centers on campus and help faculty who joined the department after me.”

–Thomas H. Epps, III, Director of the Center for Research in Soft Matter & Polymers, Allan & Myra Ferguson Distinguished Chair of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, previously the Thomas & Kipp Gutshall Career Development Chair

Dan Chester

“My philanthropy is and has always been a natural extension of my role as a faculty member. From my time teaching over the years, I have developed an inclination to assist others. It is thanks to the University of Delaware that I have been able to have a rewarding career and, in making this commitment, I hope to inspire others to give back and build upon a culture of paying it forward.”

–Dan Chester, retired associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences

Matt Oliver

“If we were chasing grants year after year, we’d never be able to do this long-term, ongoing research. You’re not just funding specific projects. You’re investing in careers—in the scientists of tomorrow—and in future discoveries.”

–Matt Oliver, Patricia and Charles Robertson Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and Policy

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ENHANCING GRADUATE EDUCATION

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

Graduate education is a catalyst, sparking change in individuals, industries and institutions. It can shape people’s lives toward new and exciting careers. It can drive research and new modes of thinking across disciplines. And it can elevate the University to greater prominence in the community and the world.

 

Established during Delaware First in 2019, UD’s Graduate College creates a strong infrastructure of resources, opportunities and experiences to strengthen excellence in graduate research, scholarship and creative expression at UD.

$66.5 million raised for graduate students
60 doctoral programs
94 fellowships and graduate funds
145 master’s degree programs

 

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

Graduate fellowships are critical to attracting the best students who will make a lasting impact by mentoring undergraduate students, making innovative discoveries and sharing their insightful perspectives. Top graduate students are in high demand. The tipping point for where they choose to study is often determined by the amount of monetary aid they receive.

Support from Campaign donors for fellowships has been crucial as UD elevates its graduate education profile. Research and discovery prevail only when graduate students have adequate funding for tuition and living expenses so they can focus on their research.

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The fund has created new student and faculty enrichment programming and opportunities centered on developing leadership skills, a deeper understanding of issues on the topic and an increased mutual respect and civility for people and cultures.

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| IN HER WORDS

“My journey of supporting students at the University has had a tremendous impact on my life. We all know that helping someone obtain their dreams can never be underestimated, especially when they are improving society at large. And to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘To know that even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. That is to have succeeded.’”

–Donna M. Fontana, BE85, established the Fontana Family Graduate Tuition Scholarship in Education and Board of Trustees member

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HONORING DONORS WITH RECOGNITION SOCIETIES

TRUE BLUE HEN LOYALTY SOCIETY |  DELAWARE DIAMONDS SOCIETY | CARILLON CIRCLE | FOUNDERS SOCIETY

In honor of their philanthropy and leadership, UD's most unwavering, generous and impactful donors are honored through UD’s four distinct recognition societies.

 

Throughout Delaware First, the society donors have collectively made a transformational difference across the University with their giving touching every aspect of the Blue Hen experience and beyond.

True Blue Hem Loyalty Society

TRUE BLUE HEN LOYALTY SOCIETY

The University’s loyal annual donors who make gifts of any size for three or more consecutive fiscal years are recognized in the True Blue Hen Loyalty Society. The Society also recognizes current students and parents who make their first gift to UD and remain philanthropic throughout their time at the University.

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  • 80,234 Blue Hens made gifts of $100 or less during Delaware First
  • 9,000+ Society donors

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    Delaware Diamond Society

    DELAWARE DIAMONDS SOCIETY

    The Delaware Diamonds Society recognizes the University's donors who make a leadership gift of $1,000 or more annually in support of scholarships, academic programs, faculty research and more. Throughout the Campaign, Delaware Diamonds Society donors have helped to fuel the success of Blue Hens at UD and beyond.

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    • 11,726 Society donors
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    Carillon Circle University of Delaware

    CARILLON CIRCLE

    The Carillon Circle celebrates those who help provide for the future of UD with a gift through a will or estate plan.

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    Legacy gifts will have an extraordinary impact from supporting new facilities and creating named professorships to establishing new programs or enhancing existing opportunities.

    • 432 households have joined Carillon Circle since the start of Delaware First
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    Founders Society University of Delaware

    FOUNDERS SOCIETY

    In 2018, the University launched the Founders Society to recognize donors who make transformational gifts of $1 million or more cumulatively throughout their lifetime. The inaugural members included 114 individuals who have invested in countless areas across UD, from scholarships, professorships and fellowships to athletics and capital renovations. Now, the Society recognizes 157 generous supporters.

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    Giving from Founders Society donors impacts the lives of students and faculty every day. Members are commemorated with engraved pavers on the Founders Walkway by the Roselle Center for the Arts.

    Dave and Kathy Hollowell both worked at UD for more than three decades in different capacities and saw countless developments over the years.

    • $517 million from the Society members during Delaware First
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    | IN THEIR WORDS

    Camilla Daniel, BE18, 20M

    “I joined the flock of loyal True Blue Hen supporters when making my Senior Class gift and have given back every year to pay it forward for future generations of Blue Hens. I am so grateful for the countless opportunities that I would not have had without the support of other donors.”

    –Camilla Daniel, BE18, 20M 

    Jeffrey Blevins, BE11

    “I continue to give at the Delaware Diamonds Society level because of the profound impact UD has had on shaping my life. It’s where I met my spouse, made lifelong friends and started down my career path. I am so grateful for the education and experiences that UD gave me, and I want to help give those possibilities to current and future students.”

    –Jeffrey Blevins, BE11, Delaware Diamonds Society donor

    Chip Bixler, AS72

    “We decided years ago to support the University of Delaware through a gift in our wills because of our experiences there. We want to be sure that the University can continue to attract quality professors, do important research and help the students.”

    –Chip Bixler, AS72, Carillon Circle member

    Dave Hollowell

    “Because we were here as long as we were, we give to areas across UD, because we want to help it continue to grow. We were both scholarship recipients, as well, so we want to pay back those investments made in us to help offer others the same opportunities.”

    –Dave Hollowell, Founders Society member

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    2023 Delaware First Report

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