Academic Staff Award winners honored

Nine UW–Madison professionals have been honored with the 2008 Academic Staff Excellence Awards in recognition of their achievements in leadership, public service, research, teaching and overall excellence.

Winners will attend a chancellor’s reception from 5–7 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, in the Main Lounge of Memorial Union and will also be recognized by the Academic Staff Assembly on Monday, May 12. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend both events.

This year, awards were made in all nine categories. Eight awards carry $2,500 stipends; the Chancellor’s Hilldale Award for Excellence in Teaching carries a $5,000 stipend.

“In this, my final year as chancellor, I want to extend a special thanks to all members of the academic staff, who make it possible for the university to operate at such a high level of excellence,” says Chancellor John D. Wiley. “Like all of the years that have gone before, this group of winners is outstanding and I thank them all for their service.”

The winners are:

Sandra Arnn

Wisconsin Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Leadership, College, School or Larger University

Arnn, assistant dean and director of Engineering Career Services in the College of Engineering, has made her impact felt in myriad ways since 1982 as a counselor to students, career adviser to doctoral candidates and a bridge to employers throughout the state and nation.

Despite changes in the ways firms solicit new hires and a turbulent global job market, engineering continues to see record interest and participation in its career events. Much of the credit is due to Arnn’s emphasis on superior customer service and collaborative leadership.

“Perhaps the most notable characteristic of Sandy’s time on campus has been the compassion and care she has shown time and again for students, her colleagues and all those with whom she comes in contact,” writes her nominator, Sarah Pfatteicher. “Countless students can describe how Sandy helped them through a wide array of personal challenges that happened to coincide with the job search that brought them into her office.”

Kevin Eliceiri

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, Independent Investigator

Eliceiri is an internationally known expert in advanced light microscopy in the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) in the Graduate School and College of Engineering. The mission of LOCI is to develop advanced optical and computational techniques for imaging and experimentally manipulating living specimens.

As director of LOCI, Eliceiri oversees the day-to-day operations of the lab and has initiated research collaborations with faculty across the university. Several collaborations have resulted in high-impact publications and grant awards. He is also the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health-funded project to develop software to annotate and archive microscopy data.

“One of the striking characteristics of Kevin is his perpetual optimism, his ‘can-do’ attitude and the enthusiasm and energy that he readily employs to help other investigators with interesting and challenging problems,” writes his nominator, John White.

Yolanda Garza

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Service to the University

As an assistant dean of students, Garza has impacted the lives of countless students by serving as a victim’s advocate in sexual assault cases, improving the university’s prevention services and providing crisis intervention in difficult cases of student misconduct.

Throughout her 22 years on campus, she has been a passionate advocate of the Wisconsin Idea, working collaboratively on sexual assault and domestic violence prevention with partners in the city and county. She has also been a participant in a new initiative serving the Mexican state of Chihuahua and a rural health clinic there.

“Yolanda leads by example; she makes a tremendous impact to our campus and Madison communities, but never draws attentions to her contributions,” writes her nominator, Ben Rodriguez. “She deserves this honor.”

Kathleen Henderson

Wisconsin Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Leadership, Individual Unit

Henderson, a researcher in the John Rankin laboratory in the Department of Population Health Sciences, manages an animal physiology lab, assisting in the planning and execution of experiments and analyzing data.

For 30 years, she has become known for being the “glue” of the lab’s day-to-day operations, training and providing care to animals, assisting in experimental surgery and managing overall finances and operations.

“Kathy carries out her duties in a quiet and unassuming way, such that our laboratory functions smoothly, usually without the rest of the staff being aware of her efforts,” writes her nominator Curtis Smith. “I cannot imagine how we would function without her; she truly fits the description of “unsung” hero.”

Linda McDonald

Martha Casey Award for Dedicated Service to the University

With more than a quarter of a century as a senior administrative program specialist in the Department of Anatomy, McDonald is known as a “difference-maker” in the department, helping to manage every important detail of the department as an unofficial co-chair. She has also gone above and beyond the call of duty in the department by managing additional roles as a result of staffing changes.

Her vast breadth of knowledge ranges from how to pay for fixing a broken sink pipe, applying for visas and deciphering complex university rules to writing permanent residency petitions. She has vast enthusiasm for her position and everyone, from academic and dean’s office staff to the custodial staff, enjoys working with her and recognizes her critical role.

“The university is in her debt. I am also in her debt,” writes nominator John Harting. “She has made my 25 years as chair the happiest and most fulfilling of my life. She has made me a better chair as well as a better person.”

Martha McGregor

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, Critical Research Support

As a researcher in pathobiological sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine, McGregor is a wealth of knowledge about influenza, having significantly advanced research on the disease through her three-decade-long career. McGregor is now nearing retirement.

From collecting samples in the field to creating antibodies in the lab, she is an irreplaceable resource in a field in which experience matters deeply. Most recently, she managed the lab work of Yoshihiro Kawaoka, managing the construction of a new lab and the thousands of details that go along with a Biosafety Level 3 facility.

“We cannot say enough about our respect and admiration for Martha,” write her nominators, Rebecca Moritz and Kelly Moore. “She is a genuine and caring mentor of the highest quality and integrity. We can only hope that our future lives and careers will reflect the poise and character that she models.”

Ruth Olson

Robert Heideman Award for Excellence in Public Service and Outreach

Raised on a dairy farm in far northwestern Danbury, Wis., Olson, associate director of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, grew up in a cultural crossroads that helped shape her future career.

Since joining UW–Madison in 1997, she has become an indispensable teacher, researcher, archivist and public educator dealing with all aspects of languages and folklore of the diverse peoples of the Upper Midwest. She has made an extra effort on behalf of creating local programs to benefit elementary school teachers on topics such as Madison’s Park Street and Greenbush neighborhoods or the history of the Hmong people in the Midwest.

“She is an outstanding practitioner of the Wisconsin Idea, a tireless worker with broad, imaginative and clear vision, based on her immersion and experiences of diverse individuals and their local cultural communities,” write her nominators, James Leary and Joseph Salmons.

Kathleen Poi

Ann Wallace Career Achievement Award

Poi, who recently retired from her position of director of University Health Services (UHS), spent nearly all of her 40-year career advocating on behalf of students, academic staff and nursing.

Most recently before her retirement, Poi spearheaded university efforts to plan for an outbreak of widespread disease, such as pandemic flu, and also oversaw planning for UHS’s upcoming move to a new clinic in the University Square development. The facility will combine all UHS staff in a single, modern clinic. Poi was also a strong proponent of shared governance, serving on behalf of various governance groups and making special efforts to engage student input about her work at UHS.

“Kathy Poi’s lifetime commitment to students and student health at the University of Wisconsin is a virtual definition of the term career achievement,” writes her nominator, Da�a Alder.

Ieva Reich

Chancellor’s Hilldale Award for Excellence in Teaching

During the past 32 years, Reich has built a reputation as a beloved and highly sought-after senior lecturer in chemistry, teaching large classes in general and organic chemistry.

As evidenced by countless course evaluations and personal letters, students are grateful to her, not only for doing an excellent job helping them learn difficult material, but also because she challenged them, inspired them, helped them build self-confidence and taught them to learn. As another measure of success, her course enrollments nearly always exceed the official capacity of the room and must be scheduled in the largest available lecture hall.

“Whenever I am out in the community with Ieva and her husband, Hans — at a social occasion, a professional event or just walking down the street — someone inevitably comes up to Ieva to thank her for the wonderful experience in organic chemistry,” writes her nominator, Robert McMahon. “I have seen this happen many times; the earnest and sincere affection of the students toward Ieva is heartwarming to witness.”