Lester Matte: Duke's Fix-it Man

As Lester Matte scanned a list of work orders one morning, he was intrigued by an unusual request.

"The work order simply said, ‘Come get keys out of pigeon nest at chapel,' " said Matte, 60, a general maintenance mechanic who joined Duke's Facilities Management Department in 2002. "That definitely got my curiosity going."

When Matte arrived at the Duke Chapel, he learned the story behind the lost keys: two Duke employees and their sons had been standing in the chapel's main entrance, where pigeons were roosting on a recessed statue above the oak doors.

"The boys were debating whether the pigeons were real, and one of them tossed the keys up near the birds," said Lisa Laws, a clinical trials specialist at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and mother of the boys. "The pigeons flew off, but the keys didn't come back down because they'd fallen behind the statue."

Matte used a tool with a magnetic tip to fish behind the statue. That didn't work. He retrieved the keys using a 24-foot ladder.

"The key ring belonged to my father, who passed away in 2001, so I was thankful to get them back," Laws said. "Lester made me feel that he did not consider this a bother. My husband, children and I will always be grateful."

'Sometimes perfection is the only option'

One Presidential Award winner is responsible for ensuring that hundreds of concerts go off every year sounding as professional as the performer and audience deserve. Another is a key figure in keeping Eye Center functions working at a high level of quality. All award winners, said President Richard H. Brodhead, make Duke a better university.

"When you're dealing with the care of patients at the Eye Center or with getting music facilities ready for a public performance, sometimes perfection is the only option," Brodhead said. "It's good to know there are employees who work at that level."

Click here to read about the winners.

Matte's friendly nature and his ability to fix almost anything are known across campus, and earned him a Presidential Award this year. The award, the most prestigious honor given to Duke faculty and staff members, recognizes those who made distinctive contributions to Duke University and Duke University Health System.

During a luncheon at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club on Tuesday, President Richard H. Brodhead honored five Duke faculty and staff members, including Matte, with a presidential medallion and a check for $1,000.

Reading from Matte's nomination for the award, Brodhead said, "He always comes to work with a positive attitude and a contagious smile -- and he's always true to his word."

Brodhead said Duke is a strong institution because of the many contributions made by those who work here, including the award winners.

"If this is a great university, it's thanks to the quality of work and the people here," Brodhead said. "Everyone doing their job at a high level is what makes this a place to be proud of."

The Presidential Award winners such as Matte exemplify those efforts.

Matte's daily duties include everything from repairing dripping faucets in the Bryan Center to installing bookshelves in the Flowers Building.

A U.S. Army veteran and martial arts instructor, Matte worked for a decade at a maximum security facility for juvenile felons in Butner before coming to Duke in 2002. His wife, Charlene Matte, is a staff assistant at Duke's Center for the Study of Aging. The Mattes have been married 36 years and have two grown children. They commute together to Duke from their Chapel Hill home.

"My work order requests sound a lot like a giant honey-do list," said Matte, joking. "I never know what's going to be on the list, but I can bet that there's going to be something unusual almost every day. My job is never boring, and it allows me to meet nice people every day. There are some wonderful people on this campus."