Mary Jean Loomis receives Staff Council Appreciation Award
From the Staff Council
Congratulations to Mary Jean Loomis, recipient of the 2006 Staff Council Appreciation Award. The award was presented to Loomis at the Staff Appreciation Breakfast April 5. This is the first year this award was presented. In the years to come, it will be presented annually to an hourly staff member “in recognition for living and promoting the mission of the University of St. Thomas.”
Mary Jean Loomis, recipient of the 2006 Staff Council Appreciation Award.
Loomis has been a member of the St. Thomas community for 26 years. For more than 24 years she was an administrative assistant for seven different directors or associate deans in the College of Business. In 2004, she started working part time as the administrative assistant for the executive director in Alumni and Constituent Relations. In her acceptance remarks at the Staff Appreciation breakfast, Loomis noted how appropriate it was to receive this award during "Gratitude Week" an expressed her appreciation for everyone in the UST community, stating "what a blessing it was" in her life. Loomis concluded her talk with a quote from Mother Teresa.
Three UST community members nominated Loomis for this award. In her nomination statement, Helen Hunter noted that: "[Mary Jean Loomis] is one of those people who does the little things that make the world and St. Thomas a better place." Marie Klein concluded her nomination statement with: "Mary Jean's personal dedication to the truth as well as her gratitude for belonging to the UST community makes her a perfect candidate for this award." Barb Dunker nominated Loomis because: "There is no one who is a better 'ambassador' for this institution ... who better to create and leave our alums and other constituents with a positive, good feeling about UST."
In addition to Loomis, the following staff members were nominated:
- Linda Lee Borovansky, University Relations
- Lois Dament, Communication Studies Department
- Mary Denker, Dean of Students Office
- Genean (Dede) Hering, Switchboard
- Helen Hunter, Office of Mission
- Julie Kimlinger, O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center
- Mary Kay O’Rourke, John A. Ryan Institute
- Sue Wagner, College of Business
- Jennifer Wake, Campus Life
On behalf of the UST community, the Staff Council extends its gratitude to Loomis and all of the award nominees for everything that they do to promote the mission of the university and for being a role model in its effort to “... educate students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely and work skillfully to advance the common good.”
