March 27, 2026

Faculty & Staff 

Toby Seay, professor of Music Industry, received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to New Zealand for the academic year 2026-2027. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange initiative. It advances knowledge and innovation, fosters solutions to complex global challenges, and promotes peaceful relations between the United States and other nations. Toby will be examining the recorded music collections of the Archive of New Zealand Music, Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand to explore music production practices within New Zealand, examine affordances and values of recorded artifacts, and to collaborate with the Turnbull Library towards a best practice for digitally stored archival materials.

Raja Schaar, associate professor of Product Design, is among the 2026 honorees of The Curious 100, from the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity. The Curious 100 is a celebration of one hundred brilliant minds embodying the transformative power of curiosity, building on the foundation laid by design icons Ray and Charles Eames. See all honorees.

Bill Fennelly, associate professor of Theatre, directed a production of Doug Wright’s Good Night Oscar at the Maltz Jupiter Theater in Florida. The production was met with rave reviews from Florida Theater Onstage and South Florida Theater.

Joseph Hancock, PhD, professor of Design, was quoted in a Feb, 28 story in the Toronto Globe and Mail about how the unclasped handbag became a status symbol. Link to story.

Valerie Ifill, an assistant professor, and Raja Schaar, an associate professor, both in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, and Ayana Allen-Handy, PhD, a professor in the School of Education, were quoted and Michelle Rogers, PhD, a professor in the College of Computing & Informatics, was mentioned in a Dec. 11 WHYY story about Drexel’s Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance after-school program. Link to story.

The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery was mentioned in a Dec. 11 Technical.ly Philly philanthropy roundup story as a recipient of a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage to support its upcoming exhibit “Escape->Control->Play.” Link to story.

Ben Kalina, an assistant professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, was a guest on the Dec. 10 episode of the Across the Margin podcast to discuss his latest documentary "Plan C for Civilization," about solar geoengineering. Link to story.

Students & Alumni

Asher Baum (Fashion Industry & Merchandising ‘25) started working in sample management and merchandising at Calvin Klein for PVH Corp., according to a LinkedIn update. He is also COO at Arc 5tudios and CEO at Chimp Skate. Link to LinkedIn.

Gabrielle Howard (Design & Merchandising ‘21) was profiled in an article on Baltimore Beat about her styling service, Moodstyling.co. Her company caters to "the everyday person" and was founded with the intention of connecting people to their authentic selves. She derives her fashion inspiration from shopping at Black and Indigenous-owned businesses. Link to Article.

Olivia Ozdinec (Design & Merchandising ‘23) became a sample coordinator at URBN, according to a LinkedIn update. She is also a PR & digital media coordinator at Philly PR Girl, and the owner of artbyoz, an online clothing shop. Link to LinkedIn.