2012 DSU Faculty Excellence Award Recipients Named

Delaware State University has named four faculty members as the institution’s 2012 Faculty Excellence Award recipients.

The University has selected the below faculty members in the following categories of Teaching, Research/Creative Activities, University/Community Service and Advising:

Faculty Excellence in Teaching

Dr. Sathya Elavarthi, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been recognized for his innovative teaching techniques that utilize many varied tools to engage his students and retain them in the department’s majors. He is known for “going the extra mile” to expose his students to as many hands-on learning opportunities as he can.

Dr. Elavarthi has developed six agriculture and plant science courses for the department, currently serves on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, as well as on the University’s Learning Communities Steering Committee. He has been a DSU faculty member since the fall of 2010.

Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activities

Dr. Aristides Marcano, associate research professor in the Department of Physics and Pre-Engineering, came out on top in the highly competitive category as the result of his prolific research activities in the areas of applied spectroscopy and optics. He has co-authored 9 peer-reviewed scientific papers that were published in high ranked scientific journals, and co-authored two book chapters.

Dr. Marcano is the principal investigator of two scientific grants and the co-principal investigator of two others that combined were multimillion dollar endeavors. He is the co-author of a scientific patent on an optical fiber detector. He has also advised 14 undergraduate research projects and 12 graduate research projects, while also tutoring three graduate students. He has been a DSU faculty member since the fall of 2006.

Faculty Excellence in University and Community Service

Dr. Gulnihal Ozbay, associate research professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in water quality for the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been honored for her numerous outreach endeavors that extend to writing and editing science publications, professional organization service and community service relating to her science areas of expertise. She has promoted a public oyster gardening program and the Mid-Atlantic Drinking Water Program, as well as been involved with the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Program.

Dr. Ozbay has planned and presented more than 100 events regionally and nationally over the last nine years, reaching approximately 2,500 youths and adults. She has also lent her expertise in water quality and environmental issues through international outreach efforts as a lecturer and consultant in Belize, the Marshall Islands and Kenya.

She has been a DSU faculty member since 2003.

Faculty Excellence in Advising

Dr. Samuel Hoff, George Washington Distinguished Professor in the Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy, has been recognized for his outstanding accessibility as an advisor and the results as demonstrated by his students.

Dr. Hoff has served as the advisor of students in the Law Studies Program (of which he is the director), graduate students in the Historic Preservation Program, and has served on curriculum committees pertaining to his department and college, as well as on the subcommittee of the University’s Graduate Council. He has also served as a coach and advisor of the DSU Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, as a judge for the DSU Oratorical Contest, as the creator of the DSU Constitution and Citizenship Speech Tournament, and as a member of the Faculty Senate Teaching Effectiveness Committee. Dr. Hoff has been a DSU faculty member since 1989.

Each recipient received a monetary award of $2,500.