Twelve honored for staff excellence

Staff Council has announced the winners of the 2001-02 Board of Regents Staff Excellence Awards and the University Outstanding Staff Awards.

The Regents awards go to University of Iowa staff members whose work has effects not only at the University, but also in state and national or international arenas. The Regents award $1,000 to the winner's department for use by the winner for education, materials, research, or other purposes. The award is open to P&S and merit supervisory exempt/confidential staff.

Outstanding Staff Awards recognize excellence in work within departments or organizations on campus and contributions to the University as a whole. The awards are open to all University staff.

Regents award winners are:

Linda Abbott

Linda Abbott, an advanced practice nurse with Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center who assists families from the time of diagnosis through end-of-life issues. She has developed and coordinated a program to assist patients, families, and staff with fatigue related to cancer and cancer treatment. She has been recognized by the Oncology Nursing Society as a national expert and is part of a nationwide initiative on this issue.

Kathleen Kikendall

Kathleen Kikendall, assistant dean in the College of Education and a licensed psychologist, provides therapy to individuals and couples. A former teacher, she went back to earn a Ph.D. later in life because she wanted to have more tools to help people. She was instrumental in the evaluation of all Regentsmerit positions and has helped develop campuswide personnel policies and procedures. She also provides guidance to students in the college. Recently, she counseled families of persons missing after the Sept. 11 disaster, working for two weeks as a certified volunteer.

Tatsuaki Nakato

Tatsuaki Nakato is a research engineer in IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering and manager of IIHR's new Mississippi Riverside Environmental Research Station in Fairport, Iowa, which was dedicated May 3. Nakato had a vision of establishing a center where researchers from many disciplines and users with conflicting interests could work together to ensure the health and future of the Mississippi River and to help users and managers make informed decisions. In addition to developing the new station, Nakato has worked with utilities in Iowa and the Midwest as well as across the nation and in several international locations to alleviate flow vortices, which can damage pumps.

Donald J. Szeszycki

Donald J. Szeszycki, assistant provost, oversees much of the Office of the Provost's operations. Interacting with deans' offices and the Office of the Vice President for Finance and University Services, he helps them improve their budget management systems and data collection and analysis. In recent years, he has collected the data used to develop strategic targets and indicators of progress for the University's strategic plan, frequently working with the Regents' staff to coordinate information and data requests with his counterparts at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa so the Regents can present a coordinated plan. He also teaches an M.B.A. evening course.

Margaret Wenk

Margaret Wenk is scenery and costume designer for the Division of Performing Arts, serving the division's School of Music, Department of Dance, and Department of Theatre Arts for 20 years. She has gained a national reputation as an artist and her scenery and costume designs have had a major impact on the success of productions staged by the University, including mainstage productions for University Theatres, the University of Iowa Summer Repertory Theatre, Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theater, and the annual Dance Gala. In addition, she is an adjunct lecturer and has appeared with the University's Arts Share outreach program as a lecturer and consultant.

W. Bruce Wheaton

W. Bruce Wheaton, director of the Technology Innovation Center, Oakdale Research Park, interim director of Oakdale Research Campus, and executive director of the UI Research Foundation, has been a recognizable personality in the University's major outreach activities related to economic development and technology transfer. He is an expert in intellectual property law and its practical application to the patent process. In his work with the Technology Innovation Center and Research Park, he has been a liaison with the external cor- porate community. He is a champion of strategic and appropriate uses of Oakdale's campus.

Winners of Outstanding Staff Awards are:

Carolyn Frisbie

Carolyn A. Frisbie, administrative assistant I in the Office of the Vice President for Research and External Relations, has coordinated David J. Skorton's schedules and activities not only in his vice presidential role but also as a physician with an active medical practice. She also served as staff in the search for a new director of the International Writing Program and on an advisory committee that helped to revitalize the program. She also assists in the management of the office.

Randy Hudachek

Randy Hudachek, health laboratory scientist II, has been with the Hygienic Laboratory for 31 years. During that time, he has advanced from a lab/field technician to supervisor of field operations of the Iowa Ambient Air Monitoring Network. He is credited with being a driving force in the implementation of new measurement technologies that have helped put the state of Iowa at the forefont of real-time particulate data collection. The network is a collaborative effort of the Hygienic Laboratory, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He also serves as a volunteer member of the State Hygienic Laboratory Radiation Response Team, which would perform field monitoring, sample collection, and contamination plume identification in the event of a nuclear power plant accident, either within the state or impacting it.

Kelly Nissen

Kelly Nissen, social worker III, Center for Disabilities and Development, came to the center as its referrals began to be children with developmental disabilities and chronic health impairments as well as associated and often significant emotional and behavioral concerns. Nissen received specialized training in Thera-Play(r), a therapist-directed, intensive family-friendly treatment that has become the center's most requested service. Having completed her final certification, the highest level possible, through the TheraPlay Institute, she is the only therapist in the state with this certification. She received the first Jean Torrens Continuing Education Scholarship from the center and a Mary Jo Small Fellowship.

Debra Paul

Debra Paul, registrar in the College of Law, coordinates construction of the college's course schedule three times a year and, as a one-person office, helps more than 700 students and 50 faculty members with their schedules. She maintains the college's academic records, each student's individual registration and the Guide to Courses, prepares the graduation analyses, and collects and publishes data for a variety of internal and external entities. She serves on three college committees. Students seek her counsel on matters far outside their academic schedules. Graduating seniors have selected her to assist faculty members who preside over the hooding ceremony at commencement and have honored her at banquets.

Dorian Walker

Dorian Walker was hired 12 years ago as office manager of Staff Development, and is credited with much of the growth of the office during that time. She instituted the office's statistical data-keeping for Staff Development courses and is involved in continual upgrading of the system. Enrollments have grown from 1,231 in 1986 to 7,123 in 2001. In addition to keeping the records, Walker also trains staff members on CD-ROM software applications programs on a one-to-one basis and coordinates the office's web registration process. She is known for a cheerful can-do attitude and an exuberant approach to her work.

Darrell M. Wilkins

Darrell M. Wilkins is the program coordinator for the Deeded Body Program coordinated by the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in the College of Medicine. This job entails counseling families and prospective donors about the benefits of deeding their bodies to medical education and research so that others will benefit from the gifts. It is a position that requires the greatest poise, diplomacy, and compassion. Wilkins has accrued more than 11,200 deeded gifts to the program, which has made the University's program one of the top five in the United States. He is leading a new plastination initiative to provide deeded gifts that can be studied in perpetuity. Following Sept. 11, 2001, Wilkins served as the only Iowa funeral director assigned to the morgue receiving area at Ground Zero.