By Cassie Ferguson

Gazette Staff

Gus Reed, an avid bird watcher and assistant dean of admissions and financial aid, stood at the side of an Orkney Island road, gazing at an animal he never thought he would actually see: a giant, spooky-looking winged creature equipped with a 16-inch beak.

Reed might never have spotted the bird, which he identified as a curlew, if he hadn't won the Faculty of Arts and Science's Administrative and Professional Prize and, as a result, ventured to a group of islands north of Scotland.

After a one-year hiatus, the FAS Administrative and Professional Prize Committee is now accepting nominations, which are due Feb. 13, for this year's award. The winners receive $5,000 plus one month's paid leave, which must be used for travel.

The prize, established in 1994 by an anonymous Harvard College alumnus and his wife, recognizes up to four current staff members of the FAS who have outstanding records of performance and who have made extraordinary contributions to the FAS above and beyond the immediate requirements of their positions. The prize was created in appreciation of the work of the Admissions Office, but is open to any member who has served the FAS for at least five years at the exempt staff level.

"You don't think of taking a month off and dropping the rest of your life," says Reed. "It's a wonderful surprise and gift to be able to do that kind of thing."

Robert Doyle, director of Instructional Media and Piano Technical Services and winner of the prize in 1995, says, "My wife and I had long dreamt of seeing plays in London and art in Paris, and the prize made it possible."

Not only did Doyle, his wife, and his two daughters, Alicia and Emily, wind up watching Oliver in London and roaming the halls of the Louvre, but also driving through the moonscapes of Iceland and dining at 186 m.p.h. on a train as they whizzed through the Chunnel.

Although 1996 winner Thomas Dingman, associate dean of Harvard College for human resources and the House system, has not yet decided where he'll be traveling, he says receiving the prize is a great honor and dreaming of possible destinations has been a lot of fun for him and his wife.

Comments Eloise McGaw, a prize committee member and assistant dean of personnel for FAS and director of personnel for Harvard College, "The award is a wonderful way to recognize people who do extraordinary work, both at their job and in their contributions to the Harvard community."

Other previous winners include James Miller, director of financial aid for Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges; Deanna Dalrymple, department administrator in the Department of Fine Arts; and Beverly Ann Douhan, director of administrative services in the Department of Psychology.

Nomination forms are available at FAS Personnel Services, 17 Sumner Road, 495-1592. They should be submitted by Feb. 13 to the FAS Administrative and Professional Prize Committee, c/o FAS Personnel Services, 17 Sumner Road, or by e-mail to mcgaw@harvard.edu.

 

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Copyright 1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College