It has been nine years since Officer Collier gave his life in service to our community. His tragic death occurred quite early in my presidency. And I will never forget how our community came together in that moment. We were truly OneMIT.
In presenting the Collier Medal, we take a moment to remember Sean's wonderful spirit and dedication, and to celebrate his enduring place in our hearts. In his memory, we award the Collier Medal to an unsung hero who builds connections and brings us closer together.
And this year, we are pleased to present the Collier Medal to Patricia Purcell, a program and project manager at CSAIL.
Patty is an expert networker, organizer, and consensus-builder. She is also a career coach, a talented editor, and a skilled navigator of bureaucracies, foreign and domestic. And she dedicates all of these talents to helping others thrive. Her colleagues say that Patty has made the exceptionally busy Kellis lab into a close-knit academic family.
Patty Purcell, in recognition of your transformative impact and exceptional dedication to the wellbeing of students, researchers and all the members of the Kellis lab, we are honored to present you with the 2022 Collier Medal.