From L to R: Felix Acosta, Luis DeQuesada, Alberto Fermin, Mel Rodriguez and Thomas Leiner
The Libraries and Information Services annual Staff Recognition Ceremony was held on April 9, 2008. The entire ceremony and reception took place in the Low Memorial Library Rotunda, which was decorated for spring with light green tablecloths and terra cotta pots of daisies. It was a lovely setting in which to acknowledge honorees with years-of-service awards, merit awards, and outstanding student employee gifts. Jim Neal presented the gifts and acted as an emcee for the event. He also expressed his appreciation for all the contributions made by the Information Services staff, in addition to those who were being honored.
This year’s ceremony was a departure from previous years in that short statements were read only for those receiving merit awards and student employee awards, and for one retiree who was honored. The abbreviated ceremony, appreciated by all in attendance, allowed more time for colleagues to mingle and enjoy the refreshments.
Comments heard by members of the Staff Recognition Committee afterwards included appreciation for the setting, food, and drinks, the fact that there were plenty of tables for seating, and that the ceremony itself was short. Staff greatly enjoyed Jim’s comments and humor. But above all, “It is nice to be appreciated and acknowledged.”
Merit Awards 2008:
JunPing Cai
Mary Beth Figueroa
Michelle Hall
Alena Ptak-Danchak
Bob Scott
Student Employee Awards
Jerry Breen
Marlaina Headley
Benjamin Heller
Sevan Karakashian
Henry Ronan-Daniell
Farhad Saheli
Honorees
10 YEARS
Felix Acosta
Gail Anderson
Bindu Bhatt
Jeffrey Carroll
Tanya Chebotarev
Ghassan Fawzi
Alexis Hagadorn
Richard Jandovitz
Irina Kandarasheva
Joseph Knox
Thomas Leiner
Li Li
Doina Manea
Alina Mecseri
Marina Obolonsky
Enrique Ortiz
Imelda Rodríguez
Yekaterina Shraga
Neil Silvera
Carole Sussman
Liwei Wang
Charles Waugaman
15 YEARS
Charlene Chou
Yukino Nakashima
Nicholas Patterson
Xun Pu
Yelena Rizkin
Christine Sala
Shakuntala Devi Singh
Tiean Wu
20 YEARS
Jerry Breeze
An Chen
Miriam Colwell
Renzo D’Anselmi
Alberto Fermin
Paula Gabbard
Amy Heinrich
Patrick Lawlor
Sung-hui Pak
Jane Sahner
Barbara Sykes-Austin
25 YEARS
James Coen
Kent McKeever
Russell Merritt
Martin O’Connor
Susan Summer
30 YEARS
Gary Bertchume
Misha Harnick
Elizabeth McComish
Junko Stuveras
35 YEARS
Alan Kennis
Robert Wolven
40 YEARS
Stephen Coth
45 YEARS
Andreas Dombrowsky
RETIRING
Daniela Baszkiewicz-Scott
Luis DeQuesada
Marina Obolonsky