The next award goes to Gwen Wilcox, Senior Administrative Assistant in Chemical Engineering. Gwen is described by colleagues as knowing everything there is to know about MIT…and leveraging that knowledge for the benefit of staff, students, and faculty. Gwen was very much revered by her colleagues before the pandemic, and the crisis only heightened the value of her contributions.
Throughout the pandemic, Gwen has taken a leading role. Early on, she worked with the IT team to immediately get laptops out to all new graduate students. And with sheer determination and grit, she engineered a visa for a postdoc to make it to MIT—even when everyone else said it couldn't be done. Then, when morale was at its lowest, she worked to get surprise Halloween baskets out to staff suffering from isolation and Zoom fatigue. And she continues to monitor building passes and evolving guidelines.
As one colleague said, Gwen makes it her duty to watch out for the safety and well-being of everyone around her—even though her efforts might require her to reach well beyond the scope of her job description.
Gwen, your colleagues—and all of us—want to offer a very big thank you. Congratulations!