2023 President’s Award for Excellence Nominees

Victoria Baker, fiscal technician, School of Education, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2007.

Nancy Bodenhorn, associate professor for the School of Education, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Vicki’s work ethic is inspirational to all those around her. She has the respect and appreciation of the faculty and staff of the SOE. I have also seen her interact with external vendors and Virginia Tech employees from other offices, which are always appreciative, warm, and friendly. She creates a positive impression in all interactions with peers, supervisors, and students. We are fortunate to have many outstanding staff members in the School of Education, and Vicki Baker is exceptional.”

Miranda Brooks, senior administrative assistant, Dean of Business, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2019.

Kimberly Ridpath, executive assistant for the Pamplin School of Business, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Since the beginning, Miranda has had an admiring positive attitude as we experienced a lot of changes within our office and in the world. I immediately gained trust and witnessed her conscientious and reliable behavior. She handles herself in a professional way when dealing with faculty, staff, students, and any individual she may have encounters with. She is always willing to learn and lend a hand, even if it is not under her umbrella.”

Amanda Collins, financial services coordinator, Department of Mechanical Engineering, has worked for Virginia Tech since 1997.

Melissa Williams, business manager for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Mandy’s open-door policy makes it easy for everyone to approach her and leave with a solution to any situation. She has spent countless hours training, sharing, and covering information that is vital to our department, and she is eager to share this knowledge with other departments as well. She is often requested to help train new employees in other departments because she is so knowledgeable in many different areas.”

Allen Compton, access control supervisor, Special Operations/Events, has worked for Virginia Tech since 1997.

Cynthia Strader, assistant radiation safety officer, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Allen is always willing to help when I have problems accessing spaces, inquiries regarding specific keys, changes in spaces, and/or am trying to assist my clients with related security issues. In addition, another area of support is working with our student technicians assisting with program-specific inspection items. Allen guides us through their requirements for the students and helps me ensure the students are following proper procedures.”

Mae Early-Wilmer, graduate program coordinator and office manager, Department of Sociology, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2022.

Ashley Reichelmann, assistant professor of sociology, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Mae has systematically and meticulously worked to set our department up for success. She has established an exclusively online system that allows for the digital signing and collation of forms. Through SmartSheets and DocuSign, she has converted our largely paper-oriented department to almost exclusively paperless. Her investment in the department’s digital infrastructure has streamlined the time we as faculty need to invest in these tasks that do not directly contribute to our teaching, research, and/or service.”

Michelle Huff, grants specialist, Virginia Tech Transportation institute, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2011.

Mary Beth Lombardo, VTTI proposal manager, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Mikki has extensive knowledge of how Virginia Tech works with sponsors, especially industry and commercial sponsors. She uses this experience to help principal investigators (PIs) navigate challenging research requirements while still prioritizing our important sponsor relationships. She frequently helps PIs catch potential issues or problems early on before they impact contracts, budgets, awards, or invoices. She enjoys working one-on-one with PIs to solve complex problems, and she is our go-to person when it comes to difficult budgets and tricky fiscal questions.”

Paige Muchler, lead housekeeper, Facilities Services Housekeeping, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2019.

Andy French, housekeeping operations coordinator, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Paige takes great pride in everything she does, pouring herself completely into her daily work and investing in the lives of those she works with. She exhibits strong leadership qualities and is often relied upon to help train newly hired employees in her area. She is always asking how she can help out and what she can do. It's this self-­sacrificing attitude that earns the respect of all her fellow coworkers. Each of them is excited when they get an opportunity to work alongside her.”

Katelyn Muldoon, water resources specialist, Infrastructure Engineering Operations, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2018.

Chuck Dietz, stormwater compliance manager, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Katelyn does outstanding and exemplary volunteer environmental education work with the youth in our neighboring communities. The highlight of her “missionary” work is her hands-on workshop where students from 4th to 7th  grade learn about stormwater pollution and then design and test their own small-scale stormwater filters. She is well known, and in high demand, for this class. Pre-COVID, she reached over 1,200 students a year with the New River Land Trust field trips, Montgomery County’s Stormwater Day, the Virginia Tech Science Fair, and Girls Day.”

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Ogle, insurance specialist, Human Resources, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2019.

Marie Bliss, assistant vice president for HR administration, and Teresa Lyons, benefits manager, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Lizzie's love for customer service in the specialization of health insurance led her to be promoted very quickly to a health insurance specialist on the Benefits team. She trains her colleagues on ways to support employees who have questions about their health insurance, and she supports New Hire Orientation by discussing all of the various health insurance options available to thousands of new hires each year. She goes the extra mile when someone needs help and offers to meet with anyone in person or on Zoom as needed.”

Dreama Price, executive assistant to the department head, Department of Biological Science, has worked for Virginia Tech since 1982.

Robert Cohen, head of the Department of Biological Science, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Her institutional knowledge is extensive and her advice is always accurate and thoughtful. On the rare occasion when she does not immediately know the answer to a question, she is quick and resourceful in tracking it down. Sometimes I have brought a problem to her at the end of the day only to find an email from her that evening with the answer I was looking for, but clearly not expecting until the following day. She is the consummate professional and a terrific tone-setter and role model for which the entire department benefits.”

Adam Sallade, HR systems coordinator, Human Resources, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2019.

Marie Bliss, assistant vice president for HR administration, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Adam is a service leader in the manner he approaches every request. He listens, asks questions, provides options, and proceeds with the requestors selected option without complaining. He knows how to perform many tasks related to the HR Service Center, North End Center conference rooms, and technical support. He is the person that everyone goes to when they need an expert on helping an employee with questions related to many services that Human Resources oversees.”

Brandon Shaver, housekeeper, Facilities Services Housekeeping, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2006.

Brad Lambert, second shift housekeeping operations supervisor, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Brandon’s knowledge of campus and willingness to do whatever is asked of him makes him an invaluable member of our team. He is always the first to volunteer for any additional projects that come up. He is so efficient with his work that he is able to pick out additional things that go beyond what is requested and accomplishes those within the time constraints as well. He looks for possible issues and brings up solutions to potential problems.”

Pamela “PJ” Shepherd, research specialist senior, Southern Piedmont AREC, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2007.

Carol Wilkinson, director for Southern Piedmont AREC, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Every program at SPAREC has been positively impacted by PJ’s willingness to help anyone with any project that is going on. PJ is truly dedicated to the success of all staff and faculty and all programs at SPAREC. Her efforts and abilities go way beyond her outlined duties. She has worked with all faculty, staff, and graduate students collecting data for their research and Extension projects and mentored undergraduate and graduate students.”

Justin Sheppard, quarry assistant manager, Facilities Services Quarry, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2008.

Anthony Watson, director of Facilities Operations and deputy to the AVP, wrote in a letter of nomination, “With Justin's leadership, a process was developed in the Quarry to produce the stone as requested for the Innovation Campus Academic Building. As a result, we quickly saw that the production of the stone was going to be painstakingly slow. Understanding that we would need to produce 200 pallets of this special stone, we faced a significant dilemma. Under Justin's leadership, he and a few other employees have worked numerous hours of overtime to make sure that the stone for ICAB will be ready to ship to Alexandria in a few months.”

Courtney Snead, lab specialist, Small Animal Clinical Services, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2013.

Natalia Henao Guerrero, head of the Department of Small Animal Sciences, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Courtney used her vast experience as a veterinary technician to provide very timely advice about a newly created program. Once we assembled the full team, she diligently prepared documents to assign roles to every member, created the bulk of the questions for the enrollment questionnaire, and actively co-led meetings with various stakeholders to cover all the needs of the program. Thanks to her high level of competency, she helped transform the way our college provides a vital hands-on learning experience for our DVM students, while giving back to our community.”

Robert Viers, classroom building AV manager, Registrar, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2016.

Stephen Beatty, manager, classroom AV services, wrote in a letter of nomination: “Rob’s work with the Office of Academic Resource Management has led to improved access to funds for improvements to the General Assignment classrooms and other instructional spaces across the three university campuses. He has provided leadership in the area of instruction technology as utilized currently and for the future of instructional support for the university. He has worked closely with the Capital Construction team to provide instructional technology infrastructure and systems designs for the instructional spaces in now completed and ongoing projects.”

Christopher “Brock” Whitlock, electrician, Facilities Operations, has worked for Virginia Tech since 2001,

Bruce Lytton, director of the Electrical and Mechanical Division, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Brock is always willing to assist his coworkers and other departments with complicated issues. Brock has handled his duties primarily on his own for many years but the additional buildings with state-of-the-art technology forced the department in late 2022 to move an electrician from the electrical shop to assist him and also allow him to train and impart his many years of knowledge to the next generation. Brock is primarily self-trained and has continued to update his training to keep up with the ever-changing technology in the world of electronics, variable frequency drives, and electricity.”