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Dr. Lori DeWitt Memorial Scholarship. Lori J, DeWitt, 57, of Hebron passed away on June 22, 2021 from complications of esophageal cancer. Her two-year battle with cancer was filled with strength, courage, and faith as she knew, in the end, she would be going home. Lori was born in Fontana, California and lived in California, Minnesota, North Dakota and, for the past fourteen years, Maryland.

Lori graduated from Norte Vista High School in Riverside, California in 1982. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from California State University, San Bernardino, her Master’s in English Education from Loma Linda University (Now La Sierra University), and her Ph.D. in Communication from North Dakota State University in 2007.

Lori was an accomplished public speaker and had qualified for the national speech and debate tournament in both high school and college.

Being the daughter of two career educators, her career path inevitably took her into education. She began her career as a high school teacher in Southern California where she taught English, speech and debate, and coached the high school speech and debate team. She also taught Special Education and loved working with students with special needs. Lori briefly worked in the television media industry hosting a local cable home improvement show. Ultimately, Lori decided on a career in higher education and moved with her family to Salisbury University in 2007 where she joined the department of Communication. She served on various department, school, and university committees and, at the time of her death, had just transitioned out as the Chair of the department.

Lori had a passion for travel. She spent important years of her life living on the West Coast, in the Midwest, and on the East Coast. She traveled with her family extensively throughout the USA. While serving on the faculty at Salisbury University, she led multiple study abroad trips to both Guatemala and Scotland. Additionally, she and her husband presented at international professional conferences in The People’s Republic of China and explored setting up study abroad programs in England and Northern Ireland. Lori was very involved in her church and traveled on numerous mission trips to Peru and Macedonia.

The memorial scholarship has been created in Lori’s name to support Salisbury University Communication majors with high financial need to embed an academic exchange or travel program either abroad or in the USA as part of their college career. Lori knew the educational benefit of travel and wanted as many students as possible to participate in these programs. Please give today to remember Lori’s legacy and support her love of educational exchange and travel.

The School of Social Work is excited to announce the creation of the Dr. Marvin Tossey Scholarship for Social Work in celebration of his legacy at Salisbury University. Dr. Tossey taught hundreds of students as a professor during his 40+ years at Salisbury University. Beyond the classroom, his leadership lead the way for the establishment of the graduate social work program and helped expand social work education beyond the Salisbury campus. His innovative spirit and vision for the unit provided the foundation for the powerhouse social work program that exists today.

Patti Erickson loved learning and teaching. She graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a public residential high school for high-achieving students located in Durham, NC, in 1986. In 1990, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Virginia Tech with a BS honors degree in Biochemistry. She then interned for a year at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, before earning a PhD in Plant Biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998. She was employed as a bioeducation scientist at Bio-Rad Laboratories in Hercules, CA from 1999 to 2002. From 2003 to 2008, Patti was a loving stay-at-home mother to her son Spencer, active in a non-profit group that promoted local agriculture, and the entrepreneur of Patti’s Handmade Chocolates, known for award-winning strawberry-balsamic-vinegar infused chocolate truffles.

In 2008, Dr. Patti Erickson joined the faculty at Salisbury University where she was a professor of molecular and cellular biology until her passing in 2021 after a fiercely fought battle with breast cancer. She was an energetic and dedicated teacher who shared with students her passion for science. She mentored many students in research often in collaboration with colleagues at George Washington University and the J. Craig Venter Institute where she had done genomics research during a sabbatical year. She enjoyed taking students to national science conferences where she excelled in getting them to meet and take selfies with Nobel laureates.

The Dr. Patti Erickson Memorial Scholarship was created by her parents, Alfred and Patricia Taranto, to help support students who, like their daughter, love to learn and are dedicated to the pursuit and application of knowledge in the biological sciences. Please consider donating to remember Patti’s legacy and support her passion for science education.

The Dr. Tony Whall Endowment's purpose is to celebrate Dr. Whall’s vision and commitment to engaged learning through undergraduate research and experiential learning in the Clarke Honors College. This endowment was made possible by the generous donation of Mr. Robert Moyle, a former student of Dr. Whall’s at Salisbury University.

Funds from this endowment can be used to enhance the student experience through travel to conferences, research, and experiential learning activities sponsored by the Clarke Honors College.

Please consider making a gift to this endowment today to make these enhanced opportunities for current students possible.

Give to The Dudley-Eshbach Study Abroad Scholarship on Giving Day!

During Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach's Presidency at Salisbury University she has supported the concept of making study abroad affordable to every student who wishes to have this life changing experience. As a student, Dr. Janet had a similar experience in Mexico which ignited a passion for the Spanish language and culture. As Dr. Janet and her husband Joe step away after 18 years of dedicated service to SU, this scholarship will be one of the lasting legacies that truly symbolizes her time at SU with promotion of diversity of thought and even experience. 

The Dudley-Eshbach Study Abroad Scholarship will be given for the purpose of supporting a student who wishes to study abroad in a Spanish speaking country in Latin America on a program of a minimum of four weeks in duration. This scholarship will be awarded to a student in good academic standing who is pursuing a major or minor in Spanish or the minor in Latin American Studies.

Your gift to the Dudley-Eshbach Study Abroad Scholarship will not only make an impact on students who want to have a life changing study abroad experience but you will also be honoring the Presidency of Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach. Your gift, combined with others, will make a difference.

There are incidents and moments that define us within our chosen professions. When we rise to this challenge and emerge successful on the other side, we can experience an ultimate validation. One of those moments occurred for an anonymous donor years ago when her team was involved in a rescue cesarean section and the resuscitation of the newborn. Ellie’s resuscitation was prolonged, some may criticize too long. But the donor's team had evidence of a healthy fetus mere minutes prior to birth. The team was stunned and relieved when her heart started its own rhythm and they sent her for post resuscitative care. The anonymous donor met Kim, Ellie’s mom, two months later when she came to thank her for not giving up on Ellie. She has been fortunate enough to keep up with her progress, growth and development through Ellie's wonderful parents. Ellie loves theater and has acted many roles with style. She’s been in dance for years, plays the piano beautifully, and has many academic achievement awards. In Kim’s words: “There have been many moments of victory, many moments of despair and everything in between. I marvel at what Ellie has accomplished and the truly loving, gentle, sweet girl she is.” This scholarship has been created in honor of Ellie so that Salisbury University can continue to provide the nursing profession with enthusiastic and equipped clinical nurses who will meet their defining moments.

Give to Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative (ESRGC) on Giving Day!

The Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative (ESRGC) is an outreach entity of Salisbury University providing access to geographic information system (GIS) technology, data, technical support, and training to the local governments of Maryland's Eastern Shore._x000D_ _x000D_ The goal of the ESRGC is to improve the GIS technology capabilities of the county and municipal governments of the six counties of the middle and lower Eastern Shore (Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester). This includes providing advice on GIS implementation, technical support, equipment loans, data collection efforts, data analysis exercises, cartographic services, and GIS training. These services are provided at either no cost to the county or municipality or at a very reduced cost. Typically, the resources provided by the two Regional Councils, the University, and the cooperative organization structure means that local governments can avail themselves of ESRGC services for a fraction of their true cost.

All gifts to the Economics department will be matched by Dr. Hong Yao ($500 total).
Make your gift on Giving Day and double your impact!

Support Educators Rising on Giving Day!

Educators Rising at Salisbury University is dedicated to empowering the next generation of teachers by providing hands-on experience, professional development, and leadership opportunities in education. On Giving Day, your support can help fund classroom resources, mentorship programs, and networking events that prepare future educators for success. By investing in Educators Rising, you are shaping the future of education and ensuring that passionate, well-prepared teachers are ready to inspire the next generation of students. Every donation—big or small—makes a lasting impact. Join us in supporting future educators by giving to Educators Rising today!

Give to The Edward H. Nabb Research Center on Giving Day!

The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture is a humanities research laboratory for university students which also fulfills the historical resource needs of a variety of community researchers. Family and local researchers frequent the Nabb Research Center for its wealth of information on family history, local history and culture, and folklore. 

Our non-circulating library contains books, serials, and microfilm relating to United States history, the greater Chesapeake region and the Delmarva Peninsula. Family histories, newspapers, correspondence, photographs, ledgers, diaries, furniture, textiles, military and agricultural memorabilia, and much more are included in our regional archival and artifact collections.

Community support is vital to the Nabb Research Center's ability to maintain and expand the services provided to students and the greater community. Your gift, combined with others, will make a difference.

Give to English on Giving Day!

"We have really devoted faculty [in the English Department]. I think our faculty like working with students one on one. Our faculty really tend to push this atmosphere in all of our classes and value the input of students." - Dave Johnson, Ph.D. The English Department offers personalized service between students and faculty with small class sizes and faculty with national/international reputations in their field. It offers positions as writing center consultants while students develop their craft and a spectacular teaching assistant program, which substantially trains students to run their own classes. The department arranges a writing series, public lectures, guest speakers, student research conferences, literary journals, and internships often leading to job opportunities.

The English Department offers personalized service between students and faculty with small class sizes and faculty with national/international reputations in their field. It offers positions as writing center consultants while students develop their craft and a spectacular teaching assistant program, which substantially trains students to run their own classes. The department arranges a writing series, public lectures, guest speakers, student research conferences, literary journals, and internships often leading to job opportunities.

Our faculty need your help to provide our students useful language composition skills learned both inside and outside the classroom. Your gift, no matter the size, combined with others, will help the English Department give our students an unmatched experience. Your investment will help assist with student research conferences, literary publishing and guest lecturers.

Please consider giving towards the Enrollment Management Professional Development Fund. This fund helps support staff members who are part of the Enrollment Management team in ongoing training throughout the year. This programming supports the team in developing a better student experience at SU!