Every year, SU honors its top faculty and staff with internal awards – and frequently, the University System of Maryland also recognizes our amazing Sea Gulls. Read about our latest honorees.
Distinguished Faculty Award
Dr. Deneen Long-White
An SU faculty member since 2016, Dr. Deneen Long-White has long been lauded for her excellence in teaching, professional development and service, and now she has been honored as the 2024 recipient of the University’s prestigious Distinguished Faculty Award.
The associate professor of public health in the School of Health Sciences boasts a number of titles and positions on campus, including interim Public Health Program director, project director of the Eastern Shore Opioid-Impacted Family Support Program (OIFSP) in SU’s Center for Healthy Communities, and immediate past president of the Faculty Senate.
“I have been impressed and amazed at her accomplishments and her commitment to the overall University, and the faculty, staff and students,” said Dr. Ellen Schaefer Salins, associate professor of social work, who nominated Long-White for the honor, noting her dedication to the campus and community.
In the classroom, Long-White has taught seven public health courses with the guiding philosophy that students should be actively engaged in learning and be given assignments that allow them to translate theory to practical experience, often incorporating modern technology into her lessons. She also believes education is a two-way street.
“I believe that everyone should be lifelong learners and that education does not stop once we receive our Ph.D.,” she said. “We learn from our students just as they learn from us.”
Long-White has secured more than $2.7 million in federal and state
grants for SU, with another potential $4.5 million pending.
Employee of the Year
Thomas Perry
“A true ambassador of excellent customer service embodied by both Chick-fil-A and Salisbury University,” Thomas Perry, University Dining Services (UDS) manager of the campus Chick-fil-A, is SU’s 2024 Employee of the Year. Perry, one of SU’s 12 Employees of the Month for the 2024 fiscal year, was nominated by George Oakley, interim UDS director, for representing the SU core value of excellence.
“He is helpful, accommodating and always comes to work with a smile on his face. No matter how busy the restaurant is, his contagious positivity lifts up the entire team, resulting in a high performing staff that delivers excellent customer service,” read Oakley’s nomination. Perry is in the top 5% of the over 400 licensed Chick-fil-A restaurant leaders across the country.
Board of Regents’ Staff Awards
Three members of the SU community received one of the University System of Maryland’s (USM’s) highest honors: the Board of Regents’ Staff Award.
Jennifer Ellis, academic portfolio and curriculum administrator in the Academic Affairs Division, was honored for “Exceptional Contribution to the Institution and/or Unit to Which the Person Belongs.” Michelle Pryor, director of annual giving and engagement in the Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Office, received the award for “Effectiveness and Efficiency.” Stephanie Davis, former academic program specialist in the University Writing Center, was recognized for “Outstanding Service to Students in an Academic or Residential Environment.”
Jennifer Ellis
Ellis has made an impact on SU’s Academic Affairs Division since coming to SU in 2018. Her efforts to fully understand SU’s curriculum and its historical context led to a change in SU’s policy regarding tracks and concentrations. Because of her curricular knowledge and strong critical thinking skills, she was invited to be part of SU’s implementation team for moving the curriculum approval process fully online. She also played a key role in implementing that system and continues to strive for creative ways to leverage its capabilities, so much so that she was invited to speak at the annual conference for Curriculog’s parent company, Modern Campus. Her ability to transform the delivered technology was especially helpful during the adoption of the University’s new General Education curriculum.
Michelle Pryor
As a leader of SU’s annual giving team for more than eight years, Pryor raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support University scholarships and programs through existing and new initiatives. In addition to overseeing SU’s annual alumni Phonathon, faculty and staff giving, and class gift programs, Pryor established the University’s annual Giving Day event, which this year topped $500,000 for the first time. (Its nine-year total is more than $2 million.) Her success with the program – which, in 2023, funded new microscopes for the Medical Laboratory Science Program, new headsets for Sea Gull football coaching staff, and a resident assistant training camp for the Housing and Residence Life Office to name just a few examples – led to a Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District II Silver Award and an invitation to present to other USM institutions.
Stephanie Davis
Before leaving the University in 2024, Davis was the University Writing Center’s (UWC) academic program specialist, ensuring the center was a resource for all SU students, supporting more than 25% of the student body annually through one-on-one tutoring, workshops, peer review sessions, and other forms of outreach and engagement. To determine best practices for writing support, Davis examined the needs of SU’s students through a series of Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved studies related to the center’s use. Davis also ran professional development on UWC operations for the center’s tutoring staff.
Our employees form the backbone of our University.”
– President Carolyn Ringer-Lepre