Co-workers Earn Distinguished Service Award Together

Co-workers Earn Distinguished Service Award Together

BY PHILIP MONTGOMERY
Rice News Staff
April 22, 1999

Fran Moshiri and Daria Lawrence, who both work in the Department of Computational
and Applied Mathematics (CAAM), describe each other as the ideal sister–supportive,
friendly, humorous, hardworking.

Good thing they feel that way about each other, because at the start of the
fall semester last year, they suddenly found themselves taking over job responsibilities
for a co-worker on short-term disability leave.

On March 30, the Human Resources department honored Moshiri, the department
administrator of CAAM, and Lawrence, the department coordinator, with Rice’s
Distinguished Service Award for their work at CAAM. Last semester they took
on extra duties for classroom reservations, textbook orders and processing additional
paperwork.

Human Resources presents the Distinguished Service Award on behalf of Rice
to recognize staff who perform above and beyond their job descriptions to the
benefit of the Rice community. The award recipients, who must be nominated,
each receive a Rice memento and a gift certificate.

"Daria and Fran were so quietly heroic that most of the faculty were unaware
of the extraordinary burden they carried for the entire semester," said
John Dennis, the Noah Harding Professor and Chair of Computational and Applied
Mathematics. "The team of Daria Lawrence and Fran Moshiri makes the CAAM
department run like a well-oiled machine. Furthermore, they accomplish all this
with good humor and grace."

For Moshiri, the added responsibilities were a burden she didn’t need or want.
The start of the fall semester is a busy time for her as she prepares proposals
and nurses them through university channels.

Lawrence has her own set of early-semester woes. Among her other duties, she
massages all the graduate student issues for the department. And since many
of the graduate students are not U.S. nationals, she deals with issues involving
everything from language difficulties to visa troubles.

When Lawrence and Moshiri looked at the mounds of extra work at the beginning
of the fall semester, they quietly agreed to divide the extra work between themselves.

"What Daria and I share is that we really care about this department,"
Moshiri said. "We feel responsible. We don’t always think of this as a
job. It matters if things are not done. We communicate really well together.
That is the biggest thing."

At first glance Lawrence and Moshiri appear to be opposites. Lawrence is known
to work at her desk while standing, because she has to be on the go. She is
exhilarated by a conference of hundreds of academics, where she mixes with strangers
and handles problems on the fly.

Moshiri admits that she is happiest when working with budgets on her computer.
Lawrence admires Moshiri for her organizational skills.

Their relationship goes beyond the daily work-a-day routine. The two are friends.
Lawrence, who has a passion for ballroom dancing, and Moshiri, a composer whose
works are sometimes performed at the school of music at the University of Houston,
enjoy sharing their love of music. Together, they frequently attend musical
performances in Houston. They even attend water-aerobic classes together.

There are some things they don’t do well together–walking, for instance. Lawrence
is a fast walker who strides out for exercise. Moshiri likes to think and stroll.

"Fran is a promenader," Lawrence said.

Moshiri looked at her co-worker and laughed. "In everything, she is very
fast. I admire her. Daria always wants to learn and become a better human being.
It is an ideal sisterly relationship."

Lawrence, looking at her friend, nods.