Meet this week’s Centennial Stars

Allgood and Ruehl are commended for positive impact on campus

To celebrate Rice’s centennial, this year the university will honor 100 staff members who represent the best of Rice culture. Each week, Centennial Stars will be recognized for their contributions to excellence, and we’ll introduce them in Rice News.

This week’s Centennial Stars are recognized for the positive impact they have made on the campus. They are Carolie Allgood, assistant dean in the George R. Brown School of Engineering, and Phoebe Ruehl, services manager for the Office of Human Resources.

Carolie Allgood

Allgood came to Rice in 1999 as an office assistant in the dean’s office for the School of Engineering. In 2000 she was promoted to assistant to the dean and became the school administrator in 2007.

For more than a decade, Allgood has set the highest standards for professionalism, courtesy and caring, colleagues wrote in a letter nominating her for the award.

“She is always ready to help with any question, request or problem, whether it comes from the office staff, the departments or the central administration, and she does so with unfailing graciousness and collegiality,” the letter said.

As an “enthusiastic supporter of and voice for staff development issues,” Allgood is respected as a constant advocate for the School of Engineering.

“She always demonstrates a calmness under the most trying circumstances that is truly remarkable,” the letter said.

In 2012, Allgood received the Hardy Bourland Award for her outstanding contributions to the school.

Phoebe Ruehl

In the 23 years Ruehl has been at Rice, she has formed lasting relationships with many departments and schools on campus. In 1989, Ruehl took her first position at Rice in the Office of Development, and over the years she worked in Finance and Administration, the Budget Office, the School of Humanities and Facilities Engineering and Planning.

In 2005, she transitioned into her current position in HR, where she is praised for making a consistent positive impact on the Rice culture and putting service to campus colleagues on the top of her team’s list.

“She serves the university with patience and kindness in dealing with everyone who submits paperwork to HR,” colleagues wrote. “She is helpful in making suggestions to make our work easier and takes time to explain anything that we do not understand, even when we have to ask it twice.”

In 2004, Ruehl was recognized by the Rice Board of Trustees as part of the working group that designed and presented Rice’s first Academic Career Training Act program.

To nominate someone as a Centennial Star, go to people.rice.edu/stars. For more information, contact Rebecca Millet at recognition@rice.edu.

To view previous Centennial Stars, visit http://people.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=2147483712.