Marks of distinction
It’s no easy feat to turn one of the most iconic Harvard buildings into a Halloween weekend destination, but that’s precisely what a group of Harvard staffers did last October.The event — dubbed Haunted Hall — lured more than 1,600 students to Memorial Hall with a costume parade, live music, candy buffet, mocktails, and pub food.To pull it off, members of the Office for the Arts, Harvard College Office of Student Life, Harvard University Dining Services, and the Freshman Dean’s Office worked with students to organize vendors and other campus partners to ensure the event fit with the College’s philosophy of student-led, staff-supported programming.Those efforts — along with the work of dozens of other Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) staff members — were honored last month at the annual Dean’s Distinction Awards ceremony.“You have been called a superstar, an invaluable asset, the heart of our undergraduate program … and an outstanding University citizen,” Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith told the honorees during the ceremony. “You’ve demonstrated outstanding citizenship and remarkable dedication through the many winter storms of 2015, trekking through 100-plus inches of snow to direct clean-up efforts and ensure that lab facilities continued to run smoothly so critical research continued uninterrupted in the face of Boston’s worst winter on record.“To all of our honorees today, you are a fantastic portrait of the best of our staff. Our faculty and students are incredibly fortunate to have your ideas, your engagement, and your partnership. You make Harvard stronger. On behalf of the faculty, I extend my sincere thanks to you.”In all, 65 FAS employees from 45 departments were recognized at the award ceremony. In addition to the Haunted Hall team, three other teams were honored for their work in the past year:The Title IX Coordination team worked with various FAS Title IX Committees and Harvard’s Central Office of Dispute Resolution to help finalize the University-wide Sexual and Gender-based Harassment Policy, contributed to the implementation of procedures for students, staff and faculty, and helped develop local Title IX processes that were effective for the FAS community. The ABET team gathered and analyzed large quantities of data and worked with faculty and staff to organize a team visit by faculty and professionals from other institutions. The end result was virtually unheard-of: Harvard was granted continued ABET accreditation with no findings.Among those recognized was Marlon Cummings, a lab administrator in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.“For me, having been in higher education all my career, to be recognized by my peers is a wonderful honor, and I’m very grateful for that,” Cummings said. “This is not really a job, because I love to work with the students here. This is a great acknowledgement.”Michaela Kapp, a faculty administrator at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, called the award a surprise and an honor.“I was actually on vacation when I learned about the award, so it was a very nice surprise,” she said. “It’s absolutely very special to get this recognition … it means so much, so I’m very honored.”The 2016 Dean’s Distinction recipients are: Derek Barton, SEAS Faculty and Lab AdministrationThomas Batchelder, Department of History of Art and ArchitectureMegan Baugh, Division of Continuing EducationSusan Berstler, Cabot Science Library, Harvard College LibraryFranklin Brown, HUIT Unified CommunicationsSabinna Cappo, Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesLaurie Chiasson, Harvard ForestSarah Colgan, Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesKirsten Colton, Division of Social ScienceLenia Constantinou, Department of Human Evolutionary BiologyMarlon Cummings, Department of Chemistry and Chemical BiologyMaureen Daniels, Center for Nanoscale SystemsJody Fanto, Division of Continuing EducationKelly Haigh, FAS Donor RelationsRobert Hart, Department of PhysicsRudy Hypolite, Instructional Media ServicesRamona Islam, Widener Library, Harvard College LibraryMichaela Kapp, SEAS Faculty and Lab AdministrationRandy Kiessig, Institute for Quantitative Social ScienceOfrit Liviatan, Harvard College Freshman Seminar ProgramMary McConnell, Department of HistoryChristina McFadden, FAS Dean’s OfficeElizabeth Moss Levine, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesElizabeth Musser, Cabot House, Harvard CollegeWendy Peiper, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureBrenda Piquet, Department of EconomicsKeleigh Quinn, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary BiologyDuane Reeves, Department of AthleticsJoan Rouse, Harvard College Dean’s OfficeKaitlyn Santa Lucia, FAS Registrar’s OfficeKathy Santoro, FAS Human ResourcesPaula Soares, Department of Visual and Environmental StudiesClaudia Stearns, SEAS Faculty and Lab AdministrationThomas Tribble, Office of Physical Resources and PlanningAlexandra Vacroux, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian StudiesAbby Wolf, Hutchins Center for African and African American ResearchEric Wong, Harvard College Admissions and Financial AidShao-Liang Zheng, Department of Chemistry and Chemical BiologyHaunted Hall TeamPilar Fitzgerald, Harvard College Office of Student LifeMary Lou Kearns, Harvard University Dining ServicesTina Bowen, Office for the Arts at Harvard, Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall ComplexTorey Martin, Harvard College Freshman Dean’s OfficeShelby Raglan, Harvard College Office of Student LifeMichael Ranen, Harvard College Freshman Dean’s OfficeKatherine Steele, Harvard College Freshman Dean’s OfficeAmy Vest, Harvard College Office of Student LifeTitle IX Coordination TeamAnna Anctil, FAS Human ResourcesMary Higgins, Division of Continuing EducationGarth McCavana, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesEmily Miller, Harvard College Academic ProgramsRobert Neugeboren, Division of Continuing EducationJohannah Park, Office for Faculty AffairsSandra Stergiou, FAS Human ResourcesKwok Yu, Office for Faculty AffairsJacqueline Yun, Graduate School of Arts and SciencesHarvard Museums of Science and Culture Exhibit DepartmentJennifer Berglund, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureDonald Bissex, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureAnthony Greaney, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureSylvie Laborde, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureWilliam McCann, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureTristan Rocher, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureSamuel Tager, Harvard Museums of Science and CultureABET TeamAnna Dunavin, SEAS Deans and Related StaffDavid Hwang, SEAS Office of Academic ProgramsPatrick Ulrich, SEAS Office of Academic Programs The Harvard Museums of Science and Culture Exhibition team worked across disciplines and departments to launch four major exhibitions, and generated broad collaboration across departments outside the museums to create exhibitions.