Meet the Staff
Getting to know us. Getting to know all about us!
Director
Adrian McCleary
Senior Academic Advisors
Academic Advisors
Bema Amponsah
Yawo Baah
Sarah Hutnick
Administrative Assistant
Karen Seymour
Adrian McCleary
Mr. McCleary is the Director of University Studies and Student Support Programs, overseeing the academic advisement office and supporting undeclared students. He participates on a number of committees and initiatives through which academic policies that impact UD students are reviewed and enacted. He also supports the UD Scholars Program, which is a subdivision of UST students who are predominantly the first in their family to attend college, in addition to the Student Support Services Program in the Center for Academic Success. Additionally, he advises a caseload of students, teaches seminars, and administers workshops.
Mr. McCleary earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Master of Education in Higher Education Administration from University at Buffalo. Before working in higher ed, he was a cashier at a department store, data entry clerk, a front desk receptionist, and a radio station board operator for several years where he played music, completed voice over work for commercials, and managed live shows. Outside of work he enjoys music, traveling, and dining at nice restaurants. He is an avid UConn basketball fan (“Go Huskies!”) and watches CNN every day to stay informed about current events.
He also still hates onions.
Sharon Grayson
Ms. Grayson (or Mrs. Grayson) is a Senior Academic Advisor in University Studies. She has involvement with the UST World Scholars, Honors Program, and International students, in addition to advising the general UST population. She is the advisor for the UST Peer Liaison Program, plans social media, communication, and programming, and teaches UNIV and COMM courses.
After earning her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Communication from University of Delaware, Ms. Grayson’s career has been focused mainly on academia. She has done adjunct teaching in Communication disciplines and academic advising at various institutions in the region. She also has a little background in retail, hospitality, childcare, and strategic communication/marketing. She is fascinated by pop culture and loves TV, movies, traveling, music, and learning new things. Additionally, she enjoys spending time with her husband, kids, family, friends, and dogs.
Moira Curtis
Moira (pronounced mor-uh, and “Please call me Moira! If you are not comfortable with that, I prefer Ms. Moira over Ms. Curtis. But really, just call me Moira!”) is a Senior Academic Advisor within University Studies that mainly works with freshmen and sophomores who are undeclared and either searching for their majors, deciding between a few directions, or just finishing up some coursework to be able to get into their major of choice. She is the advisor for students in UD Scholars program during their first semester, or until they declare a major. She also teaches multiple UNIV courses.
Moira’s first job was babysitting, which lasted all the way through graduate school. She also worked at a dance studio as a teacher and in the front office. Her degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations from Trinity Washington University and a Master of Arts in Counseling with a concentration in Higher Education/Student Affairs from Montclair State University. Outside of work she likes to hang out with her family and friends, bake some fun treats, and go to new workout classes. She was able to fulfill one of her bucket list items by traveling to London, Paris and Dublin.
Bema Amponsah
Bema (pronounced bee-mah, or you can call her Ms. Bema) is an Academic Advisor in UST working with undecided first and second-year students. She earned her Bachelor’s in Human Services concentrating in Administration and Family Policy from the University of Delaware and her Master’s in Higher Education from the Penn State University.
Bema was born in Chelsea, London and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. She had her first job when she turned 18 working as a cashier at Sears for the summer. She has also worked in Academic Coaching/Student Success, Residence Life & Housing, Student Activities, Orientation, First-Year Experience, Marketing, Athletics, and Research. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, shopping, hiking, working out, and spending time with loved ones.
Yawo Baah
Yawo (pronounced yOW) is an Academic Advisor in UST who works with undecided students. He attended York College of Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Also while at York College, he played four years of varsity soccer.
Sarah Hutnick
Sarah is an academic advisor in University Studies and works with students who are undecided or in transition between majors. She graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (with focuses in Developmental Psychology and Art Therapy) and from Wilmington University with a Master of Education in School Counseling.
Sarah has worked in many different areas including costume design and construction for theatre and local haunted attractions, retail management, early childhood education, choreographing, and audio/video transcription. As much as she enjoys learning new and unexpected skills, she feels most at home in Higher Education helping students find their path and begin to build their future. Fun fact: she will likely try to convince you to study abroad in Australia, her favorite place in the world.
Karen Seymour
Karen is the Administrative Assistant for University Studies, assisting co-workers, students, and parents as needed. She earned her Associate’s Degree from University of Delaware and then worked with Cecil County Public Schools in the Guidance department and as a paraprofessional at the High School and School of Technology. When she returned to UD, she started at Student Financial Services in the customer service department. She then went on to work at the same time in the Center for Architecture and Design and the Math/Science Education department as their administrative assistant before joining UST.
Karen loves spending time with family and her grandbaby boys. She also loves music, line dancing (or dancing of any kind), doing crafts, and refurbishing/repurposing items.
