ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, left, honored CYtation Award winners in ceremonies at his office in May. With the president are, from left, Robin McNeely, Steve Kunz, Jody Danielson, Diane Meyer, P&S Council President Dan Woodin, Robert Catus, Carmen Neri, Robert Hubert, and Yanira Pacheco-Ortiz.

CYtation Award Winners

April 21 , 2006

The Professional and Scientific Awards Committee members have selected the spring 2006 CYtation awardees. These persons were nominated for performing above and beyond the call of duty, and/or doing something extraordinarily well, or acting in such a way as to make a very real difference in the institution.  The nomination had to be for work done within the past year. The winners were honored in a recognition ceremony in the President's Office in mid-May.  In addition to a certificate signed by President Gregory Geoffroy and Council President Dan Woodin, the winners receive a one year family membership compliments of Reiman Gardens.

Below are the list of the spring 2006 winners and some information about these folks were nominated and selected:

Robert Catus – Construction Project Manager, Facilities, Planning and Management: In recognition of successfully managing many building projects including the Beardshear Hall remodel. This project was completed with the building occupied continuously throughout construction and required an extraordinary level of coordination with the building occupants. A significant portion of the work occurred at night or on weekends and it was not unusual to find Bob on the site at odd hours checking on progress, or early in the morning making sure that everything was in order before the occupants came to work.
Nominator: Dean McCormick

Jody Danielson – Administrative Specialist, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department:  In recognition for her extraordinary help and counsel during the transition between old and new department chairs to make the transition easier and smoother.  She has created an environment that is the best, most collegial, and most effective that the department has seen in over 30 years.
Nominator:  James Hill

Robert Hubert – Research Associate, Microbiology Program/Animal Science:  In recognition of his dedication to students through instructing laboratory sections. By using undergraduates as his lab support, he is teaching them informally about preparing for and testing laboratory assays to ensure that they work in the laboratory class room situation and is also formally training undergraduates who take his class.  This semester, Robert also spent significant additional teaching time with an international exchange student who arrived late and lacked the proper background for his section.
Nominator:  Joan Cunnick

Steve Kunz – Systems Analyst, IT Services:  In recognition of extraordinary service to the College of Veterinary Medicine to resolve a systems crash on Super Bowl Sunday. This act of kindness and support to help with a server that is not maintained by ITS went considerably beyond the normal call of duty and speaks volumes about Steve and his willingness to volunteer to help.
Nominators:  David Popelka and David Hopper

Robin McNeely -  Lab Manager/Systems Analyst, GIS Facility, IT Services: In recognition of her superior project management to acquire, scan and deliver historic aerial photography of the state circa 1939. This data is now available for use by the Iowa State community as well as citizens of Iowa and beyond is providing researchers with information about how the Iowa landscape has dramatically changed over the past 65 years.
Nominator: Kevin Kane

Diane Meyer – Program Coordinator, Office of Sponsored Programs Administration: In recognition of her dedication to helping the ISU research community.  Diane developed a brand new budget template which incorporates salary escalation rates, fringe benefit rates and tuition rates which populate from drop down menus.  Also, she developed an ISU Grant.gov training manual and all of this was done in addition to her normal daily duties which have increased due to OSPA’s reorganization.  Her strong leadership and positive attitude have been indispensable to the success of the office.
Nominators:  Jamy Rentschler, Chitra Rajan

Carmen Neri – Administrative Specialist, Materials Science & Engineering Department:  In recognition for doing an exemplary job with overseeing the recent MSE faculty search and helping to produce the most diverse pool of faculty candidates ever.  Additionally, by giving presentations to Latino/Latina high school students urging them to be mentors to the growing K-12 population of Latinos in America, Carmen connects ISU to potential students.  She makes life better for the hundreds of students and dozens of faculty and staff with whom she interacts.
Nominator: Mufit Akinc

Yanira Pacheco-Ortiz – Program Coordinator, Multicultural Liaison Officer, Human Sciences Student Services: In recognition for creating the Step Forward Learning Community for sophomore students in the College of Agriculture and in the College of Human Sciences. Yanira also established the chapter of the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality at Iowa State University and it is the first in the state of Iowa. This is the premier professional organization for minority hospitality students and addresses diversity and multiculturalism, as well as career development of its student members.
Nominator: Jeanne Logston

More Information about CYtation Awards.