The Department of Physics established the Gary Kelly Staff Excellence Award in 2019 to recognize staff members for outstanding job performance and dedication to the department. Civil-service and academic-professional staff members who have served a minimum of two years in their current role are eligible to be nominated for this award; nominations may be made by any Illinois Physics faculty or staff member. This award is made possible by a generous gift from Illinois Physics alumnus and donor Gary Kelly (MS, 1974).
Nominations can be emailed to Jennifer Jorstad.
Winners
2024
Maggie Mahmood, for her insight and hard work that turned challenges into opportunities within the IPASS program. Her dedication and work ethic are keys to the success of this unique program. She is a team player and is always quick to praise the contributions of others.
Kelly Searsmith, for her unwavering commitment to the Department of Physics and her tireless efforts to provide as much support as possible to Physics faculty regarding federal funding logistics so that they can focus on scientific research. She is also a strong advocate for integrating disability-related struggles as an explicit focus for the Physics Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
2023
Annette Wells, for her great care and attention to detail when approaching every aspect of her work. She continuously promotes a positive morale by displaying a congenial, supportive attitude and providing service to others in the department.
Kate Shunk, for her tireless efforts to interact, help, and support the Physics undergraduate students. She is an expert on student policies and procedures and continues to be a tremendous resource for the department.
2022
Steven Bullwinkel, for his competent, efficient, and enthusiastic support of the Condensed Matter Experiment faculty and students. His tireless efforts in assisting the faculty in their various unique requests, and his endless positivity in working with all personnel of the department.
Cheryl Sabas, for her outstanding effort to complete tasks with little to no direction and quickly troubleshooting purchasing problems in a timely manner. She works diligently to solve the entire department’s purchasing needs that arise and has become the purchasing expert in the department. Her work has a great bearing on everyone in the department, and we cannot imagine the negative impact if we didn’t have her.
2021
Sharlene Denos "for her tireless work involving outreach programs with CPLC K-12 programs and improving the educational experiences and career outcomes of students and researchers. She has also been an integral member of the department Diversity Committee. She is always willing to 'go the extra mile' and is a pleasure to work with."
Eric Thorsland "for his instrumental work and organization during the pandemic on behalf of the sPHENIX project, his efforts in improving the production and recovery of helium, and more recently his invaluable role in the MRL Machine Shop operation. His work ethic, initiative, and drive has made all of these areas a success."
2020
Janice Benner "for her outstanding work as the Office Administrator of the Institute for Condensed Matter Theory by assisting faculty, students, postdocs and visitors, and organizing seminars and workshops. Her work ethic, positive attitude, and initiative has made ICMT a great success."
Denise Donnelly "for her abiding commitment to excellence in the Department of Physics, for her dedication to taking care of everyone who crosses her threshold with a question or problem, and for her positive attitude and collaborative spirit."
Kelly Sturdyvin "for his innovative and tireless service in providing liquid helium at affordable cost for the world-class research carried out in the Departments of Physics and Chemistry, in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, and in the Nuclear Physics Laboratories."
2019
Margie Gamel “for demonstrating the highest level of dedication to the Department of Physics and contributing steadfastly behind the scenes to its successes through her diligence, service-mindedness, and high standards of performance, and for exhibiting thoughtfulness, selflessness, and positive morale even in the busiest of times, contributing to a positive departmental climate.”
Rebecca Wiltfong “for developing and supporting innovative instructional solutions that impact thousands of students every semester, and for doing this with a joy and spirit that helps make the Department of Physics such a wonderful place to work.”
Wendy Wimmer “for her many tireless and patient efforts on behalf of physics graduate students, faculty, and staff, which have set the highest standards of dedicated professionalism and caring service to the physics community.”