2020
Maria João Petisca (preservation studies)
Alexandra Turano (psychological and brain sciences)
Ayush Dusia (computer science)
Michael Metz (physics)
Kelly Mulholland (bioinformatics and systems biology)
2021
Carrie Glenn (history)
Ángela Bohórquez Oviedo (political science and international relations)
Ryan McDonough (biomedical engineering)
William Lambert (chemistry and biochemistry)
Matthew Rinkevich (English)
Read on to learn about their work.
Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities
Maria João Petisca earned the 2020 Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities for her dissertation, Investigations into Chinese Export Lacquerware: Black and Gold, 1700-1850. Petisca's research combines material sciences, history of collecting and material culture studies. She traversed four continents and collaborated with expert scientists and scholars in multiple countries to evaluate 18th- and 19th-century Chinese lacquerware spanning 300 years. Her investigation revealed unknown scientific data in historical manufacturing of lacquerware in Qing-dynasty China, which in turn allowed her to revise pre-existing arguments about the rise and decline of Chinese export lacquerware in the global trade history. Vimalin Rujivacharakul, chair of Petisca’s dissertation committee and an associate professor of art history, called her work a true blend of humanities and sciences that “revises our understanding about Chinese export lacquerware and successfully reframes the cultural history of Chinese export objects.”
Carrie Glenn earned the 2021 Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities for her work, titled The Revolutionary Atlantic of Elizabeth Beauveau and Marie Rose Poumaroux: Commerce, Vulnerability, and U.S. Connections to the French Atlantic, 1780-1860. Glenn’s research reorients what is known about inter-continental developments in the so-called Age of Revolutions, across British, Spanish and French empires, through compelling stories about intricate family networks during the commercial and revolutionary turmoil from 1770 to 1810. In particular, she sheds light on the previously unknown ways that French and North American women traded goods and information and how international networks of entrepreneurial women helped each other build small businesses at the turn of the 19th century. Glenn was advised at UD by Cathy Matson, Richards Professor Emerita of American History, who called her work “of great consequence for the field of Atlantic World studies.”
Matthew Rinkevich also earned the 2021 Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities for his dissertation, titled Signs That Save: Sacramental Matter and Agency in English Literature 1590–1660. Rinkevich’s research explores the imaginative interplay between literature and material cultures of religion in Reformation-era England. In particular, his work reevaluates what is known about the relationship between human beings and their material environments, and focuses on the ways in which sacred objects like communion bread, holy water and relics acted on and affected people spiritually. According to Kristen Poole, Ned B. Allen Professor of English and Rinkevich’s adviser, his dissertation includes a tremendous amount of original archival work that “helps to reveal that thinking about materiality has striking consonances and revealing distinctions across human history.”
George Herbert Ryden Prize in the Social Sciences
Alexandra Turano won the 2020 George Herbert Ryden Prize in the Social Sciences for her dissertation, Examining the Impact of Neuroimmune Dysregulation on Social Behavior of Male and Female Juvenile Rats. Turano’s thesis examined the effects of mild activation of the immune system on the development of age-appropriate social behaviors and whether there are differences between males and females in these outcomes. Advised by Jaclyn Schwarz, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, Turano found that immune system activation around the time of birth can disrupt the development of appropriate play behavior later in life. The work is relevant to human health as many neurodevelopmental disorders, like autism, are associated with early-life immune activation or infection.
Ángela Bohórquez Oviedo received the 2021 George Herbert Ryden Prize in the Social Sciences for her dissertation, Weaponizing Gender: The Campaign Against ‘Gender Ideology’ in the Colombian Peace Plebiscite. Bohórquez Oviedo’s research illuminates the role of traditional and social media in shaping how right-wing elite movements seek to shape the public and sway events by any means necessary. While her dissertation focuses specifically on the 2016 peace referendum in Colombia, the work is globally applicable and explains several “missing links” in today’s discussion of big data and misinformation in shaping elections and public votes. Bohórquez Oviedo is co-advised by Kara Ellerby, associate professor of political science and international relations, and Pascha Bueno-Hansen, associate professor of women and gender studies.
Allan P. Colburn Prize in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Ayush Dusia earned the 2020 Allan P. Colburn Prize in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences for his dissertation, Software-Defined Architecture and Routing Solutions for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks. Dusia was advised by Adarshpal Sethi, professor of computer and information sciences. Dusia’s research centered on advancing off-the-grid networks called mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) that don’t require existing infrastructure, such as cell towers, satellites or internet routers, to operate. These networks have the potential to improve wireless communications in disasters, smart cities and more. Dusia has designed a software-defined architecture for these networks that is flexible and can be managed centrally with minimal resources in extremely low-data rate environments.
Ryan McDonough won the 2021 Allan P. Colburn Prize in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences for his dissertation, Controlled Calcium Activation via Chemogenetic Signaling Platforms for Tissue Engineering of Articular Cartilage. Advised by Christopher Price, associate professor of biomedical engineering, McDonough explored novel synthetic control strategies to understand how calcium signaling regulates musculoskeletal cell function. In this work, McDonough developed a novel way to activate and control calcium signaling within chondrocytes, the cells responsible for development, homeostasis and adaptation of the articular cartilage within our joints. His promising approach adds important insights to what is known about cartilage biology and osteoarthritis. It also lays the foundation for future novel, safe and on-demand approaches to overcome existing barriers to tissue engineering/regeneration for joint repair.
