Last year, the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences was dealt a blow in the serious illness of one of its professors. While he pursued treatment, a research scientist stepped into the void and kept the group’s work going. He met with each student in the group, supervised several theses and UROPs, and taught the professor’s classes, even though these tasks are completely outside the realm of his responsibility. He also prepared equipment, drove students to the observatory in Westford, and stayed with them there late into the night while they made observations.
The nomination letters sing the same refrain: this young scientist doubled his workload and obligations but sought no recognition or thanks…although he says he was just doing what needed to be done, his actions went well beyond what might have been reasonable to expect. Instead of descending to chaos, education and research in this section of EAPS held its center in the face of unpredictability. For outstanding collegiality, we thank him on behalf of his department with the Unsung Hero award.
Congratulations, Michael Person.