‘Santa Maria’ watches over students, faculty and staff

‘Santa Maria’ watches over students, faculty and staff

BY JESSICA JOHNS POOL
Rice News Staff

Maria Maldonado may look like a small, quiet custodian, but don’t be fooled. She’s a powerful legend in the Mechanical Engineering building, known for her many kindnesses, ready advice, high work standards and offers of help.

COURTESY ART

Maria Maldonado, custodian of the Mechanical Engineering building for nearly 23 years, holds a photo of her “home away from home.”

In most workplaces, the cleaning crew comes in at night so daytime employees rarely see the effort that goes into keeping their office tidy. Rice is different because the custodial staff cleans during the day, which allows personal relationships to develop.

Maldonado’s relationships with the people of the Mechanical Engineering (MEMS) building are so motherly that in her 22 years working there she’s been asked to attend a birth, taken sick graduate students to the doctor and paid the bill, babysat, helped with moving and cooked many a meal to share. She’s invited to every official office party, and most unofficial ones, and has standing invitations to stay with numerous former graduate students if she ever wants to travel overseas.

“My goal since I first came to work here has been to give good service to the faculty, students and visitors and to keep a pleasant environment for the students,” said Maldonado. “I think it’s important to make the students feel welcome. I just do what I can.”

She makes coffee each morning, though she knows it’s not in her job description, in addition to her regular cleaning of labs, classrooms and bathrooms. She also brings in roses and gardenias to put around the building when her bushes at home are blooming.

Affectionately known as “Santa Maria” and “Sunshine” by faculty and “Mom” by many students, Maldonado is the married mother of three accomplished adult children and four grandchildren.

Another of her above-and-beyond kindnesses is the special attention she showers on new students, particularly graduate students from other countries. To make them feel more at home, Maldonado makes a dish to share in the MEMS lunchroom and introduces the new students to the older students. The lunchroom is also where she often dispenses advice and helps them find stores, pharmacies, inexpensive medical care or furniture.

“I hear the students, especially the ones from other countries, tell the new ones, ‘If you need something, go to Maria,'” said Maldonado. “I just try to help them because it’s a good way to show them what we offer here at Rice.”

Such support earned her the Faculty/Staff Service Award in 2006 from the Graduate Student Association. The awards are given in recognition of efforts beyond the call of duty to improve the quality of life for graduate students at Rice.

“One time we didn’t communicate thoroughly enough that Maria was going to be on vacation for two weeks and the people in MEMS thought we’d moved her to another building,” said Eusebio Franco, director of custodial and grounds, Facilities, Engineering and Planning. “We had so many people mad at us until we told them she was just on vacation. We would never think of moving Maria from her building.”

One of Maldonado’s favorite stories of her time at Rice is a kindness returned to her by a faculty member and one of his classes. While she was out for back surgery, Robert Cunningham, research scientist, had his class create an electric cart Maldonado could use inside the building to make her work easier after she returned. The students altered an old motor from one of the carts used around campus and presented it to her on her first day after sick leave.

“I was so touched that they thought of me and made me this wonderful cart,” said Maldonado. “It was so helpful and I still have it.”

Thanks to astronaut and alumnus Danny Olivas ’96, Maldonado came to the attention of President David Leebron during the Rice-Texas Tech football game in September.

“Maria befriended both me and my wife when we arrived,” Olivas said. “She was a great person to talk to, to share anxieties, a sounding board. She was a calming, nurturing person. Each step of my career I have tied back with Maria to tell her what I’m up to. She found a way to infuse herself into everyone’s life in a very positive way.”

As thanks for her support, Olivas sent Maldonado a coveted Shuttle Launch invitation to watch him blast into space at Cape Canaveral, Fla., last June. “I wanted to let her know that there are a lot of people who, even if they don’t have a degree, make a huge difference in people’s lives, that they play a significant role whether they know it or not,” said Olivas. “She epitomizes hard work, diligence and she’s still a friend.”

In his fall Town Hall meetings for staff, Leebron used Maldonado as an example of the type of leadership all employees should exhibit.

“Maria had a big part in Danny’s educational and research career at Rice, and that impact has not diminished since he left,” said Leebron. “She is but one of the hundreds of staff members at Rice who go out of their way to help and support students, faculty, staff and visitors.  We all have a stake and role in Rice’s reputation and success, and people like Maria build it from the ground up every day.”

Maldonado, for her part, is surprised by all the attention.

“I’ve been so happy working at Rice that if I’m born again I want to come straight back to Rice as a custodian,” said Maldonado. “The faculty is so nice to me, and there’s lots of satisfaction to see the faces of the students every day. Everybody has their own assignment — the faculty teach, the staff take care of the faculty and I take care of the building — and all together we make one solid piece for the students.”