*In this photo:* Andrew Voshell (l), graduate engineering students, shows Gov. John Carney a materials sample that is part of some current analytical research he is involved with at DSU.

Office of the President, On Campus

Sen. Carper, Gov. Carney visits DSU

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Gov. John Carney and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper made March 19 a special day on campus as the elected official each took time out of their busy schedules to pay separate visits to DSU.

Joined by DSU Acting President Wilma Mishoe, Gov. Carney spent part of his afternoon with three different groups of faculty and students. Gov. John Carney talks with Dr. Michael Gitcho and students about their Alzheimer research.

Gov. Carney began his visit meeting with a group of about 35 education majors in the Education and Humanities Building, where he unveiled his new proposed initiative designed to both help education program graduates and address high-need school. The initiative – slated to be introduced in the state legislature this week – would provide up to $2,000 in student loan assistance to educators who qualify.

The Delaware governor also took time to learn more about some of the students in attendance and listened to their concerns about the challenges they face in their academic journey.

From there, Gov. Carney visited the Mishoe Science Center, first going to a physics and engineering lab. There, Dr. Mukti Rana, Department of Physics and Engineering chair, and his students talked to the governor about their research on electronic properties of various materials that could be used in place of silicon in modern computer chips. The research is being funded by three-year $450,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Gov. Carney ended his afternoon at DSU by visiting the lab of Dr. Michael Gitcho, associate professor of biological sciences, and hearing about the neuroscience research on Alzheimer’s Disease taking place there.

Earlier that day Dr. Mishoe and the DSU Administrative Council began their morning with a meeting with Sen. Carper, Delaware’s senior-most U.S. Senator. (L-r) Tom Preston, Dr. Vita Pickrum, Dr. Wilma Mishoe, Irene Chapman-Hawkins, Dr. Stacy Downing and Sen. Tom Carper.

Sen. Carper updated the University officials on the latest efforts to develop immigration legislation that would protect undocumented students – Dreamers – from deportation.

He also heard about the needs of the University from Dr. Mishoe and the other Administrative Council members who were present – Dr. Stacy Downing, vice president of Student Affairs, Irene Chapman-Hawkins, vice president of Human Resources; Dr. Vita Pickrum, vice president of Institutional Advance, and Tom Preston, Esq., University general counsel.