May 2017

Message from Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli

Dear Seahawk Community,

In May, UNCW celebrated the largest graduating class in university history at the 93rd commencement exercises. It is always a joy to personally greet our newest alumni, like Cameron School of Business graduate and fellow Brazilian Victor Oliboni (with me, top). Congratulations, Class of 2017!

We began the month with a historic announcement: Quality Chemical Laboratories founder Dr. Yousry Sayed and his wife, Linda Sayed ’78, ’85M, presented UNCW with its largest corporate gift to date, a commitment of $5 million over five years to support the development of new programs related to pharmaceutical sciences and chemistry. I hope their generosity inspires many alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the university to make a gift of any amount to UNCW before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

The university earned high marks in several spring rankings, including 3rd in North Carolina and 95th nationally out of 250 public colleges and universities ranked by Business First. In other news, the UNC Board of Governors approved UNCW’s innovative bachelor’s degree in digital arts to begin in fall 2017.

Honors College students Amanda Ceroli ’19, Joshua Kraft ’19 and Hannah Whitaker ’19 received prestigious Hollings Scholarships from NOAA; Watson College of Education professor Janna Robertson won a YWCA “Women of Achievement” Award; and Sara Thorndike, associate vice chancellor for finance/controller, was selected for the 2017-18 NACUBO Fellows Program.

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal presented the 2017 Coastal Entrepreneur Awards, and the second annual Chancellor’s High School Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition showcased youthful ingenuity. Contributing to our region’s growth and economic vitality is an important element of UNCW’s Strategic Plan.

Seahawk student-athletes continued to excel in the classroom, as demonstrated in the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rates report. Five teams – women’s tennis, men's soccer, women's swimming and diving, volleyball and men’s golf – received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for academic performance. The women’s basketball team welcomed Head Coach Karen Barefoot, who promised a “teal-collar work ethic.”

Congratulations to the softball team on its historic season, including a 35-20-1 record, and to the baseball team for advancing to the championship round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, which UNCW was proud to host. And let us not forget our men’s tennis team, which made its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

As summer begins at UNCW, remember to get your tickets for the inaugural Lumina Festival of the Arts and the family arts series SEAHAWK FAM. Have a safe and enjoyable summer!

Jose V. Sartarelli

Members of the Class of 2017 will take many special memories of their time at UNCW with them, as this slideshow of highlights from the May commencement ceremonies illustrates. The quote on the cap, from Eleanor Roosevelt, affirms their potential: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their own dreams."

Honors College students celebrated their achievements during the Honors Medallion presentation and reception.

Chancellor Sartarelli greeted graduating seniors, including Manuel Lloyd '17 (above), at Sankofa; the West African moniker in the Akan language means "wisdom in learning from the past to build for the future."

Chancellor Sartarelli dined with visiting Pakistani scholars from International Islamic University in Islamabad and Richard Boyum of the U.S. State Department, which awarded UNCW a $1 million, three-year grant to support the partnership between UNCW and IIUI. Pictured left to right are (back row) adjunct grant staff member Jeremy Rowley, Boyum, Chancellor Sartarelli and Munawar Ahmad, dean of the IIUI Faculty of Languages and Literature (front row), Kate Clauss '17M and psychology professor Carrie Clements.

The Kiwanis Club of Wilmington presented the 2017 George H. Chadwick Jr. Memorial Scholarship to two future Seahawks. Caroline Cahill of Laney High School (second from left) will receive $8,800 over four years, and Stephen Lambros of Hoggard High School (second from right) will receive a one-year, $1,100 award. Also pictured, in addition to Chancellor Sartarelli, are Kiwanis President Ron Sizemore (left) and Kiwanis scholarship committee chair Randy Peebles (right).

In Dublin, Ireland, Chancellor Sartarelli met with Philip Nolan, president of Maynooth University, which has a successful exchange program with UNCW. The chancellor also met with Lauren Montgomery, a UNCW student who has been studying at Maynooth, and Maynooth students Aisling Yeomans and Diarmuid Gallagher, who will attend UNCW in the fall.