The George Washington University marked its 13th annual Celebration of Excellence with the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Awards ceremony on Wednesday morning.
The awards, said Vice President for Human Resources Sabrina Ellis, go to GW staff members and teams who have invested significant time and effort in contributing to GW beyond what their jobs demand.
“The people we honor today have invested time and effort and gone beyond the requirements of their role,” Ms. Ellis said. “To them a job description is not just a piece of paper, or a limitation on what they can do. It is a launchpad that helps get them going.”
Before an audience of about 200, a team of senior leaders including Provost Steven Lerman presented the awards to individual winners from a short list of finalists. The winners were:
- Student-Staff GEM Award: Nadia Yassin of the Center for Student Engagement in the Division of Student Affairs and a graduate student in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
- Staff GEM Award: Chris Hennelly, director of sports medicine
- Faculty GEM Award: Clay Warren, Organizational Sciences and Communication Department chair, Chauncey M. Depew Professor of Communication, professor of organizational sciences
- Department GEM Award: GW IT Tech Commons
A final prize, the Department Innovation Award, was given to the Human Resource Department’s HR Information Systems team.
The ceremony, Dr. Lerman said, was an opportunity not just to reward individuals but also “to recognize more generally the enormous contributions of faculty, staff and student workers here at GW.
“Our ability to get anything done at GW depends on what you do,” he said.
Award finalists were:
Staff GEM Award
- Tracy Arwari
- Chris Hennelly
- Amanda McLaughlin
Student-Staff GEM Award
- Kassegne Gizaw
- Brad Hayes
- Nadia Yassin
- Denver Brunsman
- Tara Radin
- Clay Warren
Department GEM Award
- Division of Student Affairs
- George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum
- GW IT Tech Commons
- Department Innovation Award
- University Bulletin Team—Academic Planning and Assessment/Registrar/DIT/External Relations
- HR Information Systems—University Human Resources
- Transfer Credit Team—Registrar’s Office