After 26 years of dedicated service, Dr. Diana Wagner retires from Salisbury University in January 2025, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy as an educator, scholar and leader.
Dr. Wagner joined SU in 1999 as advising coordinator for the Seidel School of Education and became a faculty member in 2006 after completing her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. She has taught classes in the areas of educational assessment and research, higher education leadership, social justice, human rights education, and outdoor education leadership. Her teaching spans 17 different courses, and she led the M.Ed. programs to record enrollments as Graduate Program director.
Her scholarship includes co-founding the Holocaust and Social Justice Summer Institute for teachers; publishing the first text of its kind, Outdoor Education Leadership, in 2020 (now in its second edition); and earning four prestigious Holocaust fellowships, including the Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Fellowship at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She also served as series editor for the Emily Dickinson Bulletin.
An avid kayaker, camper, musician and wildfowl carver, Dr. Wagner was recognized for her outstanding commitment to the Maryland Park Service with a commendation in 2022 for her service as volunteer ranger in which she helps maintain the more than 30 miles of kayak trails at Janes Island State Park in Crisfield located on the Chesapeake Bay.
For over two decades, Dr. Wagner co-led SU’s Lambda Society, championing inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community and was recognized in 2007 with the President’s Diversity and Inclusion Champion award. Her innovative work, including the creation of Maryland’s first electronic exhibit room for NCATE accreditation, has left a lasting impact on SU.
Alongside her colleague and friend, Dr. Louise Anderson, Dr. Wagner has been researching and performing the music of Peter Dale Winbrow for several years. Wimbrow (known as the “Del-Mar-Va Songster”) was a small-town boy from Worcester County who became a national radio and stage sensation in the 1920s. Together, Anderson and Wagner recreated Winbrow’s unparalleled musical contributions to the Delmarva Peninsula’s history and culture through their creative musical performances.
As she retires, Dr. Wagner plans to continue her music research and honing her wildfowl carving skills. We thank her for her many years of dedication to SU and wish her the very best in the next chapter of her life.