Wagner receives Martin Award

Left to right) Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity; Jeanette Greener, Martin Award nominator; Michelle Wagner, Martin Award recipient; Bill Sullivan; treasurer and chief financial officer; and Bill Bell, vice president for human resources. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image

Michelle Wagner, an administrative assistant in the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, has received the 2018 Eudoxia Girard Martin Memorial Staff Recognition Award.

Wagner began her Purdue career in 2007, and is currently in her fifth year in the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Wagner is known for her warm smile, welcoming nature and her willingness to give without bounds, nominators wrote. Wagner received the award Tuesday (Dec. 4) during the Clerical and Service Staff Recognition Luncheon.

Many Entrepreneurship instructors, staff members and students wrote nomination letters on behalf of Wagner and her lasting impact on many members of the Purdue community. Inviting an out-of-state student who had no plans for a holiday to her family gathering, personally driving a lost stranger to their meeting across campus, and offering food, emotional support and child care to colleagues who are enduring hard times are just a few examples of how Wagner has touched so many lives.

“I have not worked with any staff member who more clearly demonstrated the ‘qualities of heart, mind and spirit that evince a love for and helpfulness to students,’” says Wagner’s former supervisor Matt Golden, graduate programs director in Electrical and Computer Engineering, referring to the award criteria. “[Wagner] had an incredible ability to engage with students and a special knack for connecting with students.”

The Martin Award recognizes a full-time administrative assistant or level five secretary with five years of continuous service on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. It is awarded to a staff member who demonstrates qualities of heart, mind and spirit that evince a love for and helpfulness to students, faculty and staff. It consists of a medallion, a framed description of the life of Eudoxia Girard Martin and a $1,000 honorarium.

The other nominees were:

* Donna Cackley, Mechanical Engineering.

* Ann Cripe, Chemistry.

* Delayne Graham, College of Pharmacy.

* Gina Haines, Curriculum and Instruction.

* Tracy Hieatt, Honors College and Residences.

* Rhonda Hostetter, Hospitality and Tourism Management.

* Rebecca Lank, Mathematics.

* Susan Nelson, Police Department.

* Jayne Price, Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication.

* Jill Quirk, English.

* Michele Salla, Human Resources.

* Melissa Wilson, University Residences/Resident Life.

* Karen Zerby, Student Success Programs.

The Martin Award is named in honor of Eudoxia Girard Martin, who lived in Lafayette from 1920 to 1977 and was executive secretary to the dean of engineering at Purdue for many years.

Writer: Jaclyn Lawmaster, jlawmast@purdue.edu
Source: Carrie Hanson, senior talent management specialist, Vice President for Human Resources, cjhanson@purdue.edu