Laurence Bray, center, received the Innovative Spirit Award. Photo by Sean Hickey.
Twenty-four George Mason University faculty and staff members were honored with Outstanding Achievement Awards on Nov. 2, the 20th anniversary of the awards.
George Mason’s Human Resources and Payroll Department presented 18 of the awards; six were presented by other Mason departments.
“The Outstanding Achievement Awards celebrate those who live our Mason values every day,” said Linda Harber, vice president of Mason’s Human Resources department. “The excitement and support within the audience at the event warmed my heart and made me proud to be part of this wonderful Mason community.”
Among the recipients was Laurence Bray, associate chair and assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering. Bray received the Innovative Spirit Award, which she humbly accepted for “mostly doing my job, complemented with taking initiatives, working hard and getting the job done.”
Kimberly Holmes, center, received the David W. Rossell Quill Award. Photo by Sean Hickkey
Kimberly Holmes won the David W. Rossell Quill Award, presented to the staff member who typifies the “above and beyond the call of duty” example set by the award’s namesake, the late associate provost for personnel and budget who worked at Mason for 23 years.
Holmes, assistant dean and director of Retention and Student Success in the Center for Academic Advising, Retention and Transitions, said for her, the award presented two surprises: “One, that I was even nominated, and the other was that I got it.”
In addition to her day job working with students to develop personalized pathways to success, she also is on the advisory boards of immigration-issues organization Mason DREAMers and F1RST Gen Mason, which works with first-generation college students.
Carl Rowan, center, was recognized as an outstanding supervisor. Photo by Sean Hickey.
“Mason is such a young institution and there are so many new things we can do, but there’s not always a specific person to do it,” she said, explaining why she says yes to many volunteer opportunities.
As for the award, “I feel like we all do a lot, but it’s nice to be recognized by my supervisor and the institution.”
Curtis McNay, center, was recognized as an outstanding supervisor. Photo by Sean Hickey.
Newly installed chief of Police and Public Safety Carl T. Rowan won one of the Outstanding Supervisor Awards. Rowan had been interim campus police chief for a year before his appointment Nov. 1. Curtis McNay, director of IT security for ITS, won the other Outstanding Supervisor Award.
According to his nominators, Rowan’s “commitment to the university, department and each individual employee is undeniable. He took time to identify each employee’s strengths and develop them to the highest degree of productivity, which has translated into job satisfaction.”
See the complete list of this year’s award recipients on the Human Resources and Payroll website.