October 1, 2026

In memory of former Interim Dean and Emeritus Professor David Raizman, family and friends established the David S. Raizman Endowed Memorial Award. David's energy and leadership impacted hundreds of colleagues, and this Award will be given in his name in perpetuity. The Award recognizes a current faculty member who exemplifies distinguished service, teaching, and leadership in accordance with the values of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. 

The 2026 recipient of the Raizman Award is Yvonne Leach, professor in the Department of Cinema & Television. In her time at Westphal, Yvonne has served as program director, department head, and associate dean. She teaches primarily television studies courses: Recent TV Trends, Science Fiction Television, Supernatural Fantasy TV Shows, Teen Television, and Art of TV Drama. Students consistently praise Yvonne’s teaching style, responsiveness, and genuine care for their success and wellbeing. A colleague describes her as a generous mentor and exceptionally committed educator, possessing “the characteristic most vital to any superior instructor: complete dedication to her students.”

Yvonne is an accomplished scholar, representing Drexel Westphal in meaningful cultural conversations. Her television scholarship focuses on television trends, story and production topics, and the depiction of gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. With associate teaching professor Nick Natalicchio, she is the co-author of the book Television Show Trends, 2016-2020: Authenticity, Diversity, Sexual Candor, and Retrospection, published by McFarland. Yvonne presents annually at prestigious conferences on media studies.

In her early career as a filmmaker, Yvonne enjoyed writing, directing, and producing documentary, narrative, experimental, and educational projects that received funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the William Penn Foundation, Women’s Way, Cigna, and others. She has been a recipient of a Pennsylvania Media Arts Scriptwriting Fellowship and has had her work distributed through the University of California Extension - Center for Media and Independent Learning.

In addition to her teaching, scholarship, and creative work, Yvonne is actively involved in faculty governance at the College and University level. A devoted advocate for faculty advancement, she has served on the Westphal Faculty Caucus, the University Advisory Committee on Faculty Workload Policy, the Tenure and Promotion Policy Revision Committee, and the Faculty Committee on Faculty Affairs.

“Much like David Raizman, Professor Leach exemplifies the highest ideals of academic citizenship,” writes a colleague in Yvonne’s nomination materials. “Like David, she possesses a profound sense of responsibility to the college and university community.” 

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The David S. Raizman Endowed Memorial Award is granted annually each spring to a deserving faculty member nominated and selected by Westphal colleagues and the Dean. Because of many generous supporters, this Award will ensure David’s legacy lives on at Drexel.

If you would like to make a gift in David’s memory, we invite you to visit giving.drexel.edu/Raizman or direct a check to Drexel University, PO Box 8215, Philadelphia, PA 19101-9684.