Longtime Rice employees recognized for service, dedication

Longtime Rice employees recognized for service, dedication

BY ARIE WILSON PASSWATERS
Rice News staff

This week 313 Rice faculty and staff were recognized for service milestones ranging from five to 45 years.

Among those recognized at the Feb. 17 ceremony were Gilbert Cuthbertson and Allen Matusow, the only two employees celebrating 45 years of service. Cuthbertson is a professor of political science; Matusow is the William Gaines Twyman Professor of History and associate director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

President David Leebron commended the honorees for their years of service and invaluable contributions, which have helped Rice to be named one of the best places to work in Houston three years in a row by the Houston Business Journal.

The ceremony also recognized the 35 employees who retired in 2008, including 17 retirees who worked at the university long enough to have a tree on campus named in their honor, and memorialized Rice employees and retirees who died last year.

Debra Kolah, the reference and collections development librarian at Fondren Library, received the prestigious Elizabeth Gillis Award for Exemplary Service, which is awarded annually to recognize the outstanding achievements and service by a staff member in support of the university’s mission.

Below is a list of all those recognized at the ceremony:

5-Year Honorees

Omar Abdul-Aziz
Timothy Abraham
Nicky Adam
David Alexander
B. Kim Andrews
Mindy Bailey
Tiqva BarOn
Rosalba Benavides
Lisa Blinn
Sharad Borle
Cathy Buchanan
John Buck
E. Darcy Burgund
Henry Cash Jr.
Teresa Champion
G. Daniel Cohen
Andrew Collins
Margaret Cording
Janet Covington
Bill Coxsey
Justin Cronin
Scott Cutler
Christian Emden
Sonja Fulbright
Martha Garcia
Ivy Gonzalez
Jane Grande-Allen
Al Grazis
Randal Hall
Shirine Hamadeh
Clark Haptonstall
Otis Harris
Edward Heard
Holly Heard
Christopher Hight
Nat Holland
Amy Myers Jaffe
Jay Jameson
Melissa Kean
Gaylen Kimbell
Stephen King
Ryan Kirksey
Keri Lansdell
Lisa Limon
Jonathan Ludwig
Tomas Luna
Yury Makeev
Melissa Marschall
Yehia Massoud
Ruth Maxwell
Gerald Mixon
Robert Moeling
Kartik Mohanram
Karen Nelson
Eugene Ng
Van Nguyen
Maria Oropeza
Ricardo Palma
Peggy Patterson
Dora Pedraza
Annepha Pemberton
Andrew Perkins
Dereth Phillips
Ana Portillo
Christopher Pound
Han Pu
Victor Ramirez
Joan Recht
Jeremy Reichert
Maria Rivas
Selena Rivera
Altha Rodgers
Brian Rountree
Laura Russell
Addy Saenz
Sandy Saunders
Howard Schmidt
Sharon Scoppa
Alfredo Silva
Siddharth Singh
Michael Sirois
James Springer
Max Starkenburg
Evan Stein
Suzanne Taylor
Prabesh Vijayananda
Arnulfo Villamayor
Daniel Wagner
Masahiro Watanabe
Brian West
Sarah Westphal-Wihl
Gary Wihl
Lora Wildenthal
Rebecca Williams
Cynthia Wilson
Cary Wolfe
Yuhang Xing
Qiaozhen Ye
Robert Yekovich
Jing Zhou

10-Year Honorees

Joyce Andrews
Maria Arguello
Jean Ashmore
Bridgitt Ayers
Sergei Bachilo
Joyce Bald
Deborah Barrett
Claire Bartlett
Beth Beason
Boyd Beckwith
Raquel Benitez
Lilly Bonner
Mary Bradley
Anthony Brandt
Nella Browning
Robin Bryant
Nita Buckholz
Alexander Byrd
Carolyn Cavanaugh
Reggie Clarkson
Krista Comer
Cheryl Cormier
Jennifer Drummond
Mahmoud El-Gamal
Marc Epstein
David Ferris
Hilda Garcia
Flor Garcia
Jaime Garcia
Rachel Garcia
Elizabeth Gbordzoe
Bassoodeo Goberdhan
Gustavo Grullon
C. David Hagan
Mary Harrison
Mikki Hebl
David Johnson
Kathleen Kaun
Siva Kumari
Dean Lane
Annie Li
David Long
Ipek Martinez
Denise Mayberry
Sean Moran
Tom Oster
Henry Paige
Alfonso Perez
Tim Pitts
Gracie Presas
Will Robedee
Jessica Roddy
Lawanda Sanders
Marc Scarborough
Yousif Shamoo
Evan Siemann
Jerry Speaker
Joan Stutheit
Tayfun Tezduyar
Robert Truscott
Teresa Tucker
Dora Lillian Vides
Cathy Vincent
Virginia Wairegi
Dan Wallach
Tiffany Ware
Stacy Ware
Cathy Wilson
Teia Wright
Charly Wright

15-Year Honorees

Ronilio Abacan
Gwendolyn Aldridge
Eleazar Alejandro
Darlene Banning
Sharon Beck
Earl Black
Sharon Bush
Anthony Chan
Mildred Crocker
Ricardo Cruz
Jim Faubion
Jeff Fleming
Malcolm Gillis
Humberto Gutierrez
Holly Hardy
Jackie Hing
George Hirasaki
Darra Keeton
Pat Kelter
Suzanne Kemmer
Michael Klaveness
Sanford Kwinter
Lars Lerup
Janice Lindquist
Carol Lofton
Thomas Lytle
Dean Mackey
Hilary Mackie
Alba Marquez
Mario Martinez
Leslie Miller
Glenn Moore
Linda Neagley
Edward Nikonowicz
William Parsons
James Pomerantz
Nanxiu Qian
Kelly Quin
Karen Rubinsky
Ian Smith
Carlos Solis
Jayashree Soman
Carole Speranza
Minnie Taylor
Moshe Vardi
Mike Woodward
Yin Zhang

20-Year Honorees

Joan Adamson
Elizabeth Bandy
Patricia Burgess
Michael Carroll
Joseph Cavallaro
Steven Cox
Norma Elam
Nia Georges
Richard Gomer
Fidel Gonzalez
William Groth
Michael Gustin
Keith Hamm
Bob Hardt
Thomas Jaber
Bruce Johnson
Deirdré Joseph
Lynda Kennedy
Carter Kittrell
Christine Lidvall
Rita Loucks
Randy Marshall
Donald Morrison
Ernest Porter
Kenneth P. Russell
Bob Sabin
Mary I. Santos
Hiroko Sato
Dale Sawyer
John Stroup
Linda Sylvan
Carolynne White
Michael Wolf
Jack Zammito

25-Year Honorees

Ed Akin
Jaye Randall Anderton
Bryan Brown
Alice Butler
Josefina Camarillo
Keith Cooper
Steven Crowell
Tristram Engelhardt
John Hutchinson
Laura Izbinski
Beverly Konzem
Rose Landry
Mae Leamons
Sergiu Luca
Linda McSpadden McNeil
H. Albert Napier
Carl Rau
Kathleen Roberts
Kathleen Sayers
Gary Smith
Diana Strassmann
Rose Sundin
William Symes
Greg Thompson
Peter Varman
Rick Wilson

30-Year Honorees

George Bennett
Osvaldo Escandon
Ronnie Featherston
Maria Flores
Charles Hammonds
Clyde Holloway
Nicholas Iammarino
John Laxen
Elizabeth Long
Margarita Martinez
Mary McIntire
Jennifer Overton
Ronald Parry
Lupe Reyna
D. Scottie Schroeder
Bart Sinclair
Meredith Skura
Bob Spiro
Edward Williams
Stephen Zeff
  
35-Year Honorees

John Casbarian
Jane Chance
Sheldon Cohn
Jimmy Disch
Huey Huang
John Olson
Richard Smith
Lon Wilson
Frances Zientek

40-Year Honorees

John Clark
Wesley Morris

45-Year Honorees

Gilbert Cuthbertson
Allen Matusow

Retirees

Linda Bird
Paul Cloutier*
Robert Cumming
Ian Duck*
Ahmad Durrani*
Arthur Few*
Thomas Fothergill
Vidalia Hernandez
Don Johnson*
Olivia Kelly*
Valery Khabashesku
David Kilgore*
James King
David Lanman
Janie McBane*
Clarence Miller*
Seryu Patel
Barbara Podratz*
Basilios Poulos*
Cal Preece
Maria Rivera
Miguel Rodríguez
Mark Scheid*
Horacio Taleno
Ronald Taylor*
Ann Taylor
Rebecca Valls
Anestis Veletsos*
Jane Verm
Vera Williams*
Wen Yong Yang
Barbara Young

Retirees – In Memory

James Castañeda*
Gordon Mutchler*
Ernest Warren

* – Tree Plaque Recipients