Meet this week’s Centennial Stars

Two Rice alums are recognized for their work as Rice employees

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

CRYSTAL DAVIS

MARTY MERRITT

This week’s Centennial Star honorees: Crystal Davis, current funds accounting manager in the controller’s office, and Marty Merritt, facilities manager for the Shepherd School of Music. Both have long careers at the university – and both are Rice alumni.

Davis, a 1987 Rice graduate, has worked for the university since 1995. She was recognized with a Distinguished Employee Award in 2007, an honor for which she was nominated by no less than nine university departments.

For the Centennial Star award, Davis again received several nominations from colleagues all over campus. The nomination letters all praised her utter competence and thorough knowledge.

“If she does not know the answer, she can tell you who does,” one colleague wrote.

“She knows how most things work,” said another, “and understands the reason why they are set up the way they are.”

The colleagues who nominated Davis called her “extremely helpful” and “always upbeat.”

“She smiles into the phone,” one letter said.

“I know I can call her at any time with any type of question,” wrote another, “and she never seems upset to be interrupted.”

Davis, a Lovett College alum, also serves as a college associate at Lovett, where she sets the “gold standard” for staff associates, a letter said. She invites students to her home during O-Week, then keeps in touch with them throughout the year, attends games and performances and celebrates their birthdays. She even teaches a course at Lovett about personal taxes.

“She is a wonderful asset to the university,” a nominating letter said. “She is calm, reassuring, organized and professional.”

Merritt is an ’85 Rice grad who earned his degree in music from the Shepherd School. He’s worked at the university for more than 25 years.

Merritt started out as the Shepherd School’s facilities coordinator and orchestra manager in 1985, not long after he graduated with a degree in double bass performance. He has also worked as the school’s operations coordinator. He balanced each job with his role as orchestra manager until 2006, when he became a full-time facilities manager.

Merritt’s institutional knowledge and ability to wear several hats at once have made him invaluable to the Shepherd School. “Over the years he has done a number of jobs,” a nomination letter said, “sometimes more than just his.”

“He’s the type of person who knows a lot about little things (and big things),” the letter said, “and is always willing to help out and share.”

Merritt’s excellence has been recognized in the past; he was named a Distinguished Employee in 2003.

“Marty Merritt is a person with enormous intellectual, practical and experiential capacities,” said Robert Yekovich, dean of the Shepherd School. “His contributions to the Shepherd School are too far-reaching to enumerate.”

The dean said Merritt’s work has made an impact on the Shepherd School.

“Suffice it to say,” Yekovich said, “that Marty’s imprint is readily observable in every corner of the building and at every conceivable level of the program.”

Nominate someone

Do you know a staff member who routinely excels at work, supports the goals and aspirations of the university and serves as a positive influence on the Rice culture? Nominate him or her for a Centennial Star award. Human Resources will accept nominations from peers, colleagues, co-workers and supervisors. Nominees must be in a benefits-eligible position for at least two years as of Jan. 1 and be in good standing.

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