Patty Sullivan wins the 2015 CARE Award

Patty Sullivan, a graphic design manager in Campus Services, has been awarded the 2015 Chancellor’s Award to Recognize Excellence in Civil Service (CARE). The award is the highest honor annually awarded to a Civil Service staff member at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Chancellor Susan J. Koch announced the winner of the award during a breakfast on October 29, 2015. She also thanked all civil service staff members for their dedication to UIS.

Sullivan has worked at UIS for 25 years, starting as a typesetter in Printing and Duplicating in 1990. She later took a position as a graphic artist and now manages graphic design for Campus Services, in addition to her design work.

Her co-workers praise her for an outstanding work ethic, high quality standards and dedication to meeting customers' needs.

“Patty is truly Leadership lived in every sense of the meaning, always going the extra mile to please our clients,” said one of her nominators. “She comes in early and stays late, often not even taking a lunch and always chasing a deadline.”

Sullivan has helped to design some of the university’s most important recruitment tools, such as the Viewbook, a print publication that is distributed to high school students. She’s also designed the print edition of Illinois Issues magazine for the past 7 years.

Asked what she believes are the most important qualities for an employee to have, Sullivan responded “courtesy, commitment, and dedication.”

“Being responsive to the needs of others and committed to supporting everyone in performing their tasks to the highest standards makes work enjoyable and helps the institution function at the highest level we can achieve,” said Sullivan.

The CARE award was handed out as part of the 9th annual Civil Service Appreciation Day, which honors the over 300 civil service employees at UIS for all of their hard work and dedication. This year’s celebration included a variety of door prize drawings.

Other Civil Service employees nominated for the award include:
Gwen Cribbett, Admissions and Records Officer, Admissions
Melissa Funston, Administrative Clerk, Facilities and Services
Freida Kieffer, Child Development Associate, Cox Children’s Center
Eric Needham, Mailing Equipment Operator, Service Enterprises
Denise Rothenbach, Business Administrative Associate, Residence Life
Ceitha Steele, Human Resource Officer, Human Resources
Eric Woods, Office Manager, Capital Scholars Honors Program

The winner of the CARE award receives $500, plus a $500 donation made to the campus organization of his or her choice.

Leadership lived: International student takes on leadership roles at UIS

Nikhil Reddy Gudur chose UIS because he wanted to earn a University of Illinois degree. Now, the graduate Management Information Systems major is a leader on campus.

He is president of the Indian Student Organization and was elected internal vice president of the Student Government Association during a campus-wide vote.

“I got elected to be on the board to solve the issues of the students and be their voice,” said Gudur.

As an elected leader, he’s learned valuable lessons about leadership. He’s improved his ability to manage multiple tasks and to communicate. He’s also helped to plan large campus events, such as the Durga Dance night on campus.

As a native of Hyderabad, India, he has found UIS to be a welcoming place for international students.

“I’d recommend international students apply to UIS. You’ll have fun here,” he said.

UIS Pulitzer Prize-winning alum honored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities

Kathy Best, a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield Public Affairs Reporting Program and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, will be honored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) as the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award Recipient.

Best was nominated for the award by UIS Chancellor Susan Koch. The Distinguished Alumnus Award is presented to an individual who is an alumnus of a college or university that is a member of AASCU, who has achieved acclaim in his or her field, and who has made significant contribution to the public, intellectual or cultural life of the nation.

Best is currently editor of The Seattle Times. She joined the paper in 2007 and has held a number of leadership positions. It was under Best’s leadership that The Seattle Times staff earned the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism. A pioneer in digital media, Best led the paper as it followed the killing of four police officers and invited Seattle citizens to contribute tips, photos and videos, using Google Wave and other online sources, to inform the community—one of the earliest examples of use of social media during a community crisis.

Best continued to lead her team to success, receiving the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting and the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news, the industry’s highest honor, following their coverage of the fatal landslide in Oso, Wash., in March 2014.

Prior to The Seattle Times, Best held positions as assistant managing editor for Sunday and national news at The Baltimore Sun and as assistant managing editor/metro at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award has been presented for over 40 years. Best will join a long list of past honorees, including President Lyndon Johnson, who was the first to receive the award in 1972.

The award will be presented during the association’s Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, October 27, 2015.

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch receives SJ-R Legacy Award in Education

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch received the State Journal-Register Educator Legacy Award. This was the first year for the Legacy Awards. Winners were announced during the SJ-R First Citizen Gala and dinner.

The awards recognize noteworthy and extraordinary leadership in Sangamon County. The awards honor businesses, young entrepreneurs, health care professionals, educators and service leaders dedicated to selfless service.

Julie Cellini, a founding member of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, won the First Citizen award. That annual award dates back to 1963.

The Legacy winners besides Koch were: Emily Becker, young entrepreneur; St. Martin de Porres Center, nonprofit; Levi, Ray, & Shoup, business; and Dr. Edem and June Agamah, health care. There were six finalists for each category.

History Professor Elizabeth Kosmetatou named 2015 University Scholar at UIS

Elizabeth Kosmetatou, associate professor of History at the University of Illinois Springfield, has been named University Scholar for 2015.

The award, considered the university’s highest faculty honor, recognizes outstanding teaching and scholarship. Only one faculty member receives the annual award at UIS.

“Elizabeth has garnered praise from students as well as colleagues for her enthusiasm, energy, and creativity as a teacher, and for the encouragement she provides to her students,” said Lynn Pardie, UIS Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost.

Kosmetatou is regarded as an expert on the period in Hellenistic history between the deaths of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and of Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE. Her scholarship involves the interdisciplinary study of the story of the Attalids of ancient Pergamon, the votives of the temple of Artemis, and the epigrams of the poet Poseidippus of Pella.

“The depth and range of Professor Kosmetatou’s scholarship is a testament to her many academic skills and strengths,” said Pardie. Some of those skills include expertise in several areas of specialization, such as the analysis of ancient coins, inscriptions, literary and historiographical texts, and ancient politics. She is also fluent in English, Modern Greek, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish languages, and she has a reading knowledge of classical Greek, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, and Pharaonic Egyptian.

Kosmetatou has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has additional work in progress, including projects titled The Votives in the Delian Artemision and History and Society in the Classical Period. She has also delivered numerous scholarly presentations at national and international conferences, organized international conferences in her field, and given invited guest lectures at universities in the U.S. as well as abroad.

At UIS, Professor Kosmetatou teaches courses online and on campus, and she received the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award in 2012.

She obtained her doctorate in Classics from The University of Cincinnati. Previously, she served as a lecturer of Ancient History in the Department of History at Ohio State University. She has participated in numerous archaeological digs in Greece.

As University Scholar, Kosmetatou will receive $15,000 a year for three years to support research and other scholarly activities.

Faculty do not apply for this award; they are nominated by their peers. A committee of senior faculty makes the final selection.

For more information on the award, contact Derek Schnapp, director of public relations at 217/206-6716 or email dschn3@uis.edu.