Jean R. LeBlanc

Our next Excellence Award for Serving the Client goes to someone that many of you have had the pleasure of meeting in the course of your day, and chances are, you felt happier as a result. His name is Jean Leblanc, and he is a driver for the MIT Tech Shuttle. Every day, Jean helps hundreds of members of the MIT community get to class or work and back. One of those who nominated him for this award said, “Jean calls all of his passengers his friends, and he treats them exactly as you would treat a friend. My son calls him the happy driver. He greets each passenger cheerfully, gives the kids high-fives, and chats with the passengers, building enduring relationships. And that positive attitude is contagious.”

Incredibly, his passengers say, as much as Jean goes out of his way to meet each person’s specific needs—lowering the bus, for example, so a little boy can climb the stairs himself—he still makes his route in a timely manner. He understands just how much people depend—not just on the Tech Shuttle—but on him, and he never lets them down.

Another of his passengers said: “Jean clearly loves his job. The way he looks at it, he’s getting people where they need to go so they can do great things.”  His excellence enables the excellence of others at MIT.

Jean, congratulations on your richly deserved MIT Excellence Award.