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Presentation of the
2001 OVPR Staff Awards
May 16, 2001
Good afternoon and welcome. I am Fawwaz Ulaby, Vice President for Research. We are here this afternoon to honor several outstanding individuals involved in the University's sizeable research enterprise. But first let me say a few words about this awards program and how it came about.
Last fall, the OVPR senior staff held several discussions about how we might bring more visibility to the fine work provided by the staff who support research on campus. After all, about one-third of the University budget, excluding the Hospital and health care services, stems from research. Last year, research expenditures totaled $545 million -- that's $1.5 million spent daily, seven days a week, on research by our faculty, staff and students. Given this magnitude, it seemed right that we do something to recognize the people whose work in the complex world of research administration helps make the mighty Michigan research engine go.
So in January, we announced the new awards program and the two new awards. First, there is the OVPR Exceptional Service Award, which honors staff members from OVPR or any of the units that report to OVPR. Then there is the Distinguished Research Administrator Award, which honors individuals from any unit at the University who have demonstrated over a number of years a level of distinguished service that exemplifies the highest goals of professional research administration.
We received many excellent nominations which were then reviewed by a committee of senior administrators, each of whom is a recipient of a staff award for his or her own school or college. I'd like to thank the selection committee for their efforts and the recommendations that helped me in deciding who to honor in this first year of the award program. The selection advisory committee members were:
- Julia Dodge, Senior Research Associate in the School of Public Health;
- Carl Henderson, Engineering Research Associate in the Dept. of Geological Sciences, LS&A;
- Linda Owens, Administrative Manager in the College of Engineering;
- Linda Peasley, Basic Science Administrator in the Medical School; and
- Kathleen Freidrichs, Administrative Manager in the College of Engineering.
Thanks to all of you for your assistance.
Now I would like to start by presenting the OVPR Exceptional Service Awards. As I call you name, please come forward to receive your plaque and honorarium.
First, would Jane Ginopolis come forward.
Jane Ginopolis was nominated for this award by her colleagues and the Director of the Institute of Gerontology. She began working at the Institute in 1996, where her contributions caught people's attention from the start. But her talent and commitment really came forward when IoG began planning to transfer from OVPR to the Medical School, only to have that plan called off. Jane had by then accepted a new position in the Department of Geological Sciences, but she gladly volunteered to help keep the Institute operating , in essence administering two units for nearly a year.
In expressing support for her nomination, people said time again how impressed they were with her dedication, the quality of her work, and her calm and calming effect on the Institute during a period of uncertainty.
Now that things have settle down a bit and she's not overseeing two departments, Jane has a little more time for one of her favorite pastimes -- traveling around Michigan exploring the many lighthouses along its shoreline.
I am pleased to present to you, Jane, this plaque to recognize your stellar efforts and service to the University.
I would now like to invite Tom Zdeba to join me.
Tom was nominated by co-workers at DRDA, where he has worked since 1992 on projects involving industrial sponsors. The research agreements with private business require a lot of special attention and negotiation, for each agreement is unique, unlike most federal research agreements where many of the terms remain the same from one project to the next. Tom has brought to this work an excellent mix of legal and scientific know-how, for he not only has a law degree, but he also received his B.S. degree in zoology -- from the University of Michigan, I might add -- in 1973. In fact, he worked for a number of years on the research staff for a project conducted in the University's Great Lakes Research Division. He then worked for a dozen years as an attorney in a small law office before joining DRDA.
Tom has excelled at DRDA because he is able to bring so many strengths to his work -- legal knowledge, an understanding of science, expertise and insight in the workings of technology transfer, and the ability to know that the parties in any negotiation want to feel that their needs have been listened to and addressed. His positive attitude, and effective style, and willingness to share his knowledge with others have all contributed to his selection for this award.
Finally, as you can see, Tom dresses quite stylishly, but he doesn't himself it too seriously -- if you've ever been to Ann Arbor's premiere costume store, Fantasy Attic, you'll find several photos of Tom modeling costumes -- I'll let you ask him which ones are his favorite....
Now I'd like to present Tom with his award...
Next, I would like to present the winners of the Distinguished Research Administrator Award, which are open to staff University-wide.
I'd like to ask Owen Jansson to come to the front.
Owen is the Assistant Director at the Center for Human Growth and Development, where he has worked at the University since 1982. The co-workers who nominated Owen made special note of the leadership he has demonstrated through the many changes that a research unit such as CHGD faces over time. Throughout his long service at the Center, Owen has been someone who set high standards for himself and those around him. The employees who have worked with him have thrived under Owen and the positive work environment he creates.
Owen is also a model University and community citizen, someone who willingly takes on new responsibilities and challenges. For example, he currently sits on the Ann Arbor Parks Advisory Commission, and has participated on several other advisory groups in the past. And just about a year ago, Owen took up that supreme challenge -- golf -- and yet he remains a pleasant person and with positive outlook on life!
Owen, I'm pleased to present you with this award.
I'd now like to call on Dorene Markel.
As you have seen from the awards booklet, Dorene has been affiliated with the University of Michigan for many years. She attended UM-Dearborn, and later earned a Masters in Human Genetics and then a Masters in Health Services Administration. Her current position is Administrative Director of the General Clinical Research Center, a position she has held since 1996. The Michigan Center is one the nation's leading NIH-funded clinical research facilities, and Dorene's administrative efforts have done much to make it so.
She is also a member of the Medical School Institutional Review Board, a body with the vitally important task of reviewing all human research protocols in the Medical School. I am personally indebted to Dorene for her service on a campus-wide committee I assembled last year to review and restructure our entire human research oversight, and she is contributing a new educational initiative on research integrity organized out of my office.
And if there was any doubt that Dorene is an effective administrator, I need only add that she has been Cookie Sale Manager for Troop 428 here in Ann Arbor for six straight years!
Dorene, it's my pleasure to present this award to you.
Finally, I'd like Patrice Somerville to join me.
Patrice is the Administrative Manager for the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and has worked in the School of Public Health for 16 years. She has done an outstanding job as the administrative leader for two Public Health departments -- first in Biostatistics and now Environmental Health Sciences. For a time, in fact, she handled the affairs of both units (which is starting to sound like a theme today).
Patrice is also known in many corners of the campus as someone with tremendous knowledge about research administration who is willing to help anyone who asks. She made very beneficial contributions to skill and effectiveness. Her contributions reached a crescendo when she agreed to serve on the design and implementation of the Cost Accounting Standards training project a few years ago, and with her contributions to the development of the Research Administrators Information Network, or RAIN, during 1998 and '99. She has also become a Certified Research Administrator by the Research Administrators Certification Council, and is active in the Society of Research Administrators.
Patrice is always striving to improve herself and so it's no surprise that she hopes to complete her degree this summer in Business Administration and then start right in again in pursuit of a Masters Degree in Business, both from Concordia College. Congratulations, Patrice.
Thank you all for coming. Please stay and enjoy the food and the company of your colleagues and friends.