Professional staff in the University of Oregon’s Career Center play an integral role in helping students and UO alumni navigate the professional world during and after college, efforts that were recognized at the annual Career Center recognition night.
The recent UO Career Center Partner Appreciation Celebration honored the outstanding UO employees and partners on and off campus who support students in their professional endeavors.
W. Andrew Marcus, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, earned the Career Development Champion of the Year award for his collaboration, support and contribution to the career development of UO students and alumni.
Three awards recognize individuals both on and off campus — an effort to mark the important role members of the UO community and their outside partners play in professional development of young Ducks.
The Collaborator of the Year award goes to four individuals who are recognized for their teamwork and support of students and alumni in the professional realm. The off-campus Collaborator of the Year is Scott Seydel, a senior industrial hygienist at CH2M Hill, while the on-campus collaborators are Chris Lonigan, a senior recruiter at the UO; Pam Farmer, director of Professional Development Programs at the UO; and Eric Wills, an instructor in the UO Department of Computer and Information Science.
For off-campus Recruiter of the Year — an award aimed at acknowledging talent in recruiting students and alumni to join the Career Center, UO alumni programs and other jobs programs — the Career Center honored Senior Chief Michael Taylor, an officer recruiter for the United States Navy. The on-campus recruiter award went to Jamie Leaf, the visitor services coordinator at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
The off-campus Rising Star award went to Payal Shah, a talent acquisition marketing program manager at Fisher Investments, and the on-campus Rising Star award went to Kate Ball, a resource sharing operations specialist with UO Libraries. This award recognizes the exceptional energy and passion in creating new career development endeavors for UO students and alumni.
Each award, designed by the Career Center’s marketing and graphic design coordinator Michael Williamson, is crafted from remnants of the Erb Memorial Union reconstruction project and was created by the UO Craft Center.
—By Nathaniel Brown, University Communications intern