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Past Recipients

1994 - Enelda Wade

Enelda Wade, longtime department administrator in the Stanford News Service, has been named the recipient of the 1994 Amy J. Blue Award for staff excellence at Stanford University.

In addition to Wade, the award selection committee also named four runners-up who will receive "Amy" awards. All five staffers will be honored Tuesday, May 24, at a Buck Estate reception. President Gerhard Casper and Vice President for Faculty and Staff Services Barbara Butterfield will make the presentations.

The four "Amy" winners are Saul Cardenas of Housing and Food Services, the head cook at Wilbur; Marcia Keating, student services officer in the department of physics; Marilyn Scott, accounts coordinator in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and Judy Thompson, administrator of the Hopkins Marine Station.

Wade joined the Stanford staff on March 16, 1969, in what was then known as News and Publications. Now department administrator, Wade rose through the ranks through a combination of initiative and development via courses and other training.

The staff of the News Service — which publishes Campus Report and the Stanford Observer, issues press releases and handles other media relations — relies on Wade for everything from computer trouble-shooting to preparing the annual budget and tracking down missing expense checks. Various colleagues noted that her duties have evolved over the years beyond the basic job description.

"You could say that I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and a little bit of everything," she said.

The director of the unit, Terry Shepard, recalled an incident that typifies Wade's role in keeping things running smoothly.

During a rainstorm two years ago, he "rushed in to the office early on a Saturday morning, worried about our leaky ceiling. In one sense, I was right to worry, because the ceiling had given way and flooded the office.

"In another sense, I should never have worried. Because already there, hours before me though she lives much farther away, was Enelda with the situation in hand — facilities notified, equipment saved and vital papers protected."

Besides providing support for management and editorial staff, Wade supervises the office staff of four. Nominations came from both ends of the office.

In nominating Wade for the award, colleagues described her as a "guardian angel" who "works quietly behind the scenes to make life easier for all of us."

"I wonder if those folks in Genetics could clone her!" one co-worker wrote.

Another cited her "24-year record of unblemished service at Stanford," and described her as "the heart of this office."

"Through her drive, enthusiasm and competence, she has risen from the lowest [staff] level to being the key person who holds together the News Service," a longtime colleague wrote.

"Enelda has always been a calming influence in an operation subject to the excitement and chaos of campus events and news deadlines," another veteran wrote. "She has long been regarded as the glue holding together the operation."

The "Amy" winners earned like praise from colleagues:

Cardenas, who has been with Stanford for 22 years and has been head cook at Wilbur for the past 20, "has always been willing to try something new, and wants to learn new techniques," one nominator wrote. "He is always willing to try new ideas and new methods to better meet the needs of students and clients."

A supervisor wrote that Cardenas actively supported adding the catering department to his kitchen, "even though it meant additional work for himself and his staff. We now serve more students and have more business in catering than ever before, and yet he has less help in the kitchen than before."

Cardenas, one nominator wrote, "has always done what is best for the university and the students. He is always concerned about what would best meet the needs of the students."

Keating, who joined the department of physics in November 1991, is admissions officer for graduate students. She had worked at Stanford for six years, left for a time, and rejoined the staff in March 1991.

She was nominated by physics faculty, staff and graduate students alike.

One professor in the department said Keating "is an absolutely wonderful person to work with, she has boundless energy, she handles the mechanics of her job in a completely transparent manner, she is always looking for new and innovative ways to do a better job, she never puts anyone down, she supports and fights for her students, and never hesitates to take the initiative if it appears to be the proper thing to do."

A graduate student wrote: "Keating is definitely one of those rare people whose work is very important for many of us, and whose personality makes any contact with her a pleasant experience. . . . There were so many instances when she has helped us that I simply cannot list all of them here."

Scott, a 10-year university employee who has been handling accounts for the department of behavioral sciences and psychiatry for eight and a half years, was called "a very competent employee who sets high standards for herself and encourages others to do the same. She has that wonderful ability of being able to correct others in a firm but kind and cheerful way."

Several faculty researchers nominated Scott, with one writing that "she has managed the funds in my grants with a patience and diligence that almost defies description."

Another colleague singled out Scott because "she infuses every personal contact with warmth, understanding and joy. Everyone who deals with her, from the cleanup man to the chairman, is treated with the same respect and consideration."

Thompson has been with Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, located in Monterey, for more than a quarter of a century, and has been its department administrator since 1980. As an example of her dedication, a co-worker wrote that Thompson routinely puts in 55 to 60 hours of work per week.

"I believe that I speak for many here that if it were not for Judy, Hopkins would not be here. Grant proposals done at the last minute get in and get funded. Tight budgets are worked with and the work gets done. In a small place such as Hopkins, personalities can get tiresome, but Judy still holds us together.

"If anyone is to be the first to get an 'Amy' from Hopkins, the first should go to Judy."

The winner of the Amy J. Blue Award receives a certificate and a $1,000 prize, to support the costs of professional development activities of importance to the winner's career. Winners of the "Amy" receive a certificate and remain eligible for future Amy J. Blue Awards.

The award honors Amy J. Blue, who was associate vice president for administrative services and facilities when she died in May 1988 of brain cancer. At the time, Blue was the highest-ranking woman on the administrative staff.

The endowment supporting the annual award was established by a group of women who knew and worked with Blue, with contributions from her family, friends and colleagues.

Previous winners include Mark Gibson, laboratory services coordinator in the Center for Materials Research (1993); Peter Tuttle, consultant in the Stanford Data Center (1992); and Carol Vonder Linden, assistant dean of research, who was assistant dean of the School of Earth Sciences when she received the first Amy J. Blue Award in 1991.

The 1994 selection committee included the previous winners as well as Susan Schofield of the Controller's Office and Sally Mahoney of the Office of the Provost.