Human Development and Family Sciences

Celebrating UD’s newest doctors

The Class of 2025 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony, held on May 21st in the Bob Carpenter Sports and Convocation Center with UD President Dennis Assanis, Provost Laura Carlson, Dean of the Graduate College Louis F. Rossi, and Deans and representatives of UD's colleges and the Biden School.

Doctoral Hooding Ceremony recognizes study, sacrifice and perseverance

Alexis Omar’s father, aunt and grandfather all earned University of Delaware degrees, so Blue Hen pride was instilled in her at a young age and reinforced throughout her youth. Visits to relatives in the First State from her home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, often prompted her dad to make a pit stop in Newark to stroll the campus, outfit his family in new UD hoodies and treat them to a snack from the UDairy Creamery.

Though she considered attending other schools, the friendly atmosphere coupled with the chance to pursue a bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary medicine and animal biosciences inspired Omar to extend her family’s Blue Hen legacy when she enrolled at UD in 2014. Eleven years and three degrees later, she continues to be thrilled with her decision to follow in her family’s footsteps.

“I was a tour guide, and every time I gave a tour here I would hear how friendly everyone at UD was, how kind this campus was, and I experienced the same thing,” Omar said. “The campus is so incredibly gorgeous and safe, and everyone has always been so welcoming, kind and accepting.”

Students from 28 countries crossed the stage for the awarding of their doctoral degrees, a tradition that dates back to the 1600s in medieval Europe.

Omar liked UD so much that she was not content with just earning her bachelor’s degree in 2018. What was originally intended to be a four-year stay was extended by seven years for a master’s degree in food science in 2021 and a doctorate in animal and food sciences that was awarded at the 2025 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony inside a festive Bob Carpenter Center on May 21.

“We all know that this moment is a huge milestone for all of you who are receiving your doctoral hoods today, following years of intense study, sacrifice and perseverance,” UD President Dennis Assanis said. “You have pushed the boundaries of your disciplines, asked difficult questions and pursued answers with courage and conviction. So let me be among the first to say: Congratulations, doctors.”

UD President Dennis Assanis praised the graduates for their achievement and emphatically congratulated the new doctors.

About 230 students from 28 countries, including Afghanistan, Austria, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Taiwan and Turkey, crossed the stage for the awarding of their doctoral degrees, a tradition that dates back to the 1600s in medieval Europe. Closer to home, Yale University awarded the first doctoral degrees in the U.S. in 1861, and UD began conferring doctorates in 1948.

“Earning this degree entitles a person to wear a doctoral hood,” said Lou Rossi, dean of UD’s Graduate College and vice provost for graduate and professional education. “Hoods are an important part of academic regalia and symbolize the possession of advanced knowledge and specialized skills that few others possess. In the U.S., only 2% of the population have doctoral degrees.”

Lou Rossi, dean of the Graduate College, provided the opening and closing comments, and he commended the graduates for joining the 2% of the U.S. population with doctoral degrees.

Students were hooded by their advisors and presented diplomas in a wide variety of disciplines, such as hospitality business analytics, plant and soil sciences, English, physics, art history, environmental economics, education, civil engineering, computer science, interdisciplinary neuroscience, education and social policy, and disaster science and management.

“I am honored to play a small part in this incredible moment of your lives,” UD Provost Laura Carlson said. “I love the Commencement ceremonies and their fanfare — the bagpipe music, the procession, the colorful robes, the caps and, of course, the coveted doctoral hoods that you have worked so hard to receive.”

UD Provost Laura Carlson basked in the glow of all the accoutrements that accompanied the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony, including the bagpipes, procession, robes, caps and hoods.

Ranging in ages from 25 to 56, some of the students began pursuing their doctorates right after completing their bachelor’s or master’s degrees, and others returned to the classrooms and labs following time in the workforce. For human development and family studies graduate McKenna Halverson, being hooded on her birthday provided her with a present she will never forget.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday,” Halverson said. “I’m grateful for the mentors, participants, peers and communities who made this journey possible.”

McKenna Halverson will never forget being hooded on her birthday.

Whereas Omar had UD blue and yellow-gold in her blood and spent more than a decade of birthdays on campus, Samantha Gillis-Nelson arrived in Newark with no previous connections to the University and spent far less time wandering The Green.

A native of Mount Airy, Maryland, with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Millersville University, Gillis-Nelson began the pursuit of her biological sciences doctorate at UD in 2018. After completing her coursework and spending about two years in the lab of Yvette Yien, she learned that the assistant professor was relocating to the University of Pittsburgh’s Vascular Medicine Institute in the spring of 2021.

After spending more than two years doing lab work in Pittsburgh, Samantha Gillis-Nelson was thrilled to be back on the UD campus to be hooded by Erica Selva.

When Gillis-Nelson was offered the opportunity to still be a UD student while continuing her research in Yien’s lab, she was not immediately sold on moving to another institution with a similar color scheme nearly 300 miles away. Along with the comfort and familiarity she felt in Delaware, she had been with her boyfriend, Tim, for two years.

“I was enjoying the research I was doing, but I was expecting my life to be in Delaware with Tim for the next few years finishing up my Ph.D.,” Gillis-Nelson said. “Tim was very supportive and said we’ll make it work.”

Proud mother Sarah Clerjuste crossed the stage with her son, Emerson, who was born just under a year ago.

After weighing the pros and cons, Gillis-Nelson headed to the Steel City in August 2021 and spent more than two and a half years as a UD student on Pitt’s campus while maintaining two long-distance relationships. She and Tim alternated making weekend drives across the Keystone State, and she maintained regular contact with her dissertation committee in Delaware.

“I never felt like I was on an island,” Gillis-Nelson said. “My committee members kept me on track and offered all the support I needed.”

While Omar and Gillis-Nelson had very different experiences as UD students, and spent disproportionate amounts of time on campus, both found a home in Delaware and plan to stay here as their personal and professional lives develop.

Adam Andressen happily holds up his diploma.

“I made best friends as an undergrad who I am still friends with now,” Omar said. “I have besties from graduate school. I have mentors who have been with me since freshman year. I have made some of the best memories here, and I just love it here.”

Though Omar is finally leaving UD, she is not going far. She accepted a position as a professor and a lab manager at Wilmington University, where she is going to teach genetics. As for Gillis-Nelson, she married Tim in September 2024 and is looking to get into industry research in or around the state.

Yale University awarded the first doctoral degrees in the U.S. in 1861, and UD began conferring doctorates in 1948.

“Things do not always go as planned, but moving to Pittsburgh definitely helped me grow as an adult and live on my own,” Gillis-Nelson said. “I still got my degree, and Tim and I made it work and stayed together.”

Whether students are at UD to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree — or at least one of each — Omar has some advice for them.

“Don’t take anything for granted; be in the moment; be present, because this University is amazing,” Omar said. “Appreciate what you have right now, because these are supposed to be the best years of your life — 11 years if you decide to stay like I did.”

Read this story on UDaily.

Article by Adam S. Kamras. Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and Evan Krape.