College says 'thanks' at Employee Recognition Luncheon

The College said 'thanks' to faculty and staff members at its annual Employee Retirement and Recognition Lunch on Case Green Tuesday, recognizing four retirees and giving service awards to 135.

"It's been a challenging year, and people have really stepped up," said President Philip A. Glotzbach. "Skidmore is all of us, and everything that you have done this year makes us the place we are."

The ceremony began with a memorial acknowledgement by the Rev. Thomas R. Davis, former College chaplain, of the life and contributions to the College made by Sharon Smalley, a customer attendant and short-order cook in Dining Services, who died in November.

It ended with a tribute to Charlene Grant, lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, to whom Glotzbach gave the President's Faculty Award. He praised her innovations in the classroom, her volunteer work with Spanish students who are engaged with the Spanish-speaking community in our area, her membership on the Responsible Community Task Force, and her teaching of several UWW classes. "Her involvement goes far beyond what her title of 'lecturer' would imply," he noted.

In between, Glotzbach and Barbara Beck, director of human resources, teamed up in recognizing employees who have given a total of 2,198 years of service, including four who observed 40-year anniversaries during 2008-09: Betty Balevic, associate professor of management and business; Robert Boyers, professor of English and editor of Salmagundi; Regis Brodie, professor of art, and Mary Lynn, Douglas Family Professor of American Culture.

Also recognized were four who have retired: Richard Linke, Ella Van Dyke Tuthill '32 Chair in Studio Art; Chrisana McGill, student academic development coordinator for the First-Year Experience; David Miller, professor of art and director of the Schick Art Gallery, and Rajagopal Parthasarathy, professor of English.

For the first time, Human Resources gave yellow ribbons and white boutonnieres to those who have reached their 25 ^th, 30 ^th, 35 ^th, and 40 ^th service anniversaries. A photographic tribute to these faculty and staff will run soon on the Faculty/Staff page of the Skidmore Web site.