This week’s ‘Thumbs Up’ recipients

Purdue Academic Advising Association steering team

I want to express my deepest gratitude to Tim Grasham, Cassie Pendleton, Aimee Griggs, Lavonna Kuhn (all Purdue Polytechnic Institute), Onyx Uzomah (Honors College), Ayrielle Espinosa (Daniels School), Christine Schertz (Chemistry), Cara Wetzel (Exploratory Studies), Andrew Bradburn (Health and Human Sciences), Constance Golando (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Katie May (Public Health), who are planning and executing the Global Advising Appreciation Week. Their hard work and creativity are evident in every event, from workshops and keynote speeches to social activities and appreciation events. This celebration highlights the invaluable contributions of our advising community and fosters a sense of appreciation and camaraderie. Your efforts are making a lasting impact and strengthening our academic bonds. I am incredibly thankful for the contributions of this steering team and all it has accomplished this year and with this event. Thank you for making this week memorable and meaningful! — Jo Thomas (Daniels School of Business)

Jeff Hemersbach and crew

Jeff (Operations and Maintenance) and his crew go above and beyond to get the keys back to us in the same day. They are very polite and understanding of how quickly the keys are needed. We appreciate all that they do. Thank you so much — Natalie Devine, Billy Spurlock and Annette Robbins (all Building Services)

Hunter Rex and Preston Manthei

Thank you so much, Hunter and Preston (both Intercollegiate Athletics), for offering tours for Advisor Appreciation Day. It was an amazing experience! — Katie May (Public Health)

Purdue Academic Advising Association and University Undergraduate Academic Advising

Thank you for celebrating advisors on campus for Global Advising Appreciation Week! — Katie May (Public Health)

Todd Iler and the Office of Admissions

I want to thank Todd (Office of Admissions) and his team for helping me out with a time-sensitive request. My event would not have been successful if it weren’t for Todd’s support. These actions may seem small in the grand scheme of things here at Purdue, but they really make all the difference in the world. Thanks to Todd and his team! — Kaylee Gad (Computer Science)

Volunteers for the Spring Undergraduate Research Conference

With over 900 student presentations from April 8-11, we had a wonderful turnout of 431 volunteer judges who provided important feedback to student presenters while supporting units in choosing their top awards. With consistent support from the Purdue community, we can continue growing this event without losing the individualization of the evaluation process. Additionally, we had 28 day-of volunteers who helped ensure smooth conference operations. Thank you! — JJ Sadler (Office of Undergraduate Research)

Miranda Baer

Thank you, Miranda (Mechanical Engineering), for all of your hard work as chair of the Purdue Academic Advising Association awards committee over the last couple of years. I learned a lot from working with you! Thank you for always being willing to step up and take on extra work to make sure everything is on track for awards. You are an amazing leader! Thank you for always making sure that undergraduate advisors on campus get recognition! — Katie May (Public Health)

Aimee Griggs

Thank you, Aimee (Purdue Polytechnic Institute), for all of your work on Global Advising Appreciation Week! — Katie May (Public Health)

Leslie Schumacher

Shoutout to Leslie (Purdue Online) for her outstanding support of faculty in teaching through Purdue Engineering Online. Could not do that without her! — Thomas Siegmund (Mechanical Engineering)

Sarah Vaughn

Sarah (Honors College) has been incredibly helpful throughout this semester as I taught an Honors Scholarly Project class for the first time. She generously answered many questions as I tried to navigate systems and structures. She worked directly with students to help make their data collection activities a success, with timely and thoughtful solutions to challenges. And she was flexible and supportive in helping to meet our varied needs for our scholarly showcase. Thank you for all of your help! — Dan Guberman (Center for Instructional Excellence)

Linda Gregory

To our amazing director in Exploratory Studies — a poem, with a little help from AI: We see the work, the constant pace, the calm you bring to every space. Emails flying, calls at night; you meet it all with quiet might. Demands come in from every side, yet still you lead, support and guide. Your door is open, you’re always near — a steady voice we trust and hear. Behind the scenes, you make things run; with grace, with grit — you get things done. For all you do, both seen and not, we appreciate and thank you — a lot! — Mary Beth Lencke and Exploratory Studies staff members