Skip to main content

2010 Blue Ribbon Awards

Employees recognized for teamwork and diversity at annual awards ceremony

2010_Diversity_Award_Winners_Walmer_Terrell.jpg
President Brodhead, far left, with Diversity Award winner Jacqueline S. Terrell, Benjamin Reese, Diversity Award winner David Walmer, and Kyle Cavanaugh. Photos by Duke University Photo.

Faculty and staff working to reduce inequities, improve clinical data gathering and save Duke money were honored Tuesday by Duke University and Duke University Health System at the annual Teamwork and Diversity Awards Luncheon. 

President Richard H. Brodhead congratulated the winners - two teams and two individuals - for outstanding accomplishments in the name of teamwork and diversity, two of Duke's hallmark guiding principles. 

"We honor people today not because they have an exclusive monopoly on these virtues, but because they illustrate at such a high level the virtues we understand need to be embodied everywhere," Brodhead said. "We thank you for the example you set."

This year's winners are David K. Walmer, MD and Jacqueline Terrell - Diversity Award; and the DART Analysis Team and the Data Management Solutions Team - Teamwork Award.

 

David Walmer - Helping Haiti (Diversity Award)

Dr. David Walmer, associate professor of Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility, has taken concrete actions to support his commitment to equal rights for all people: he has built two clinics in Haiti with the support of his non-profit organization, Family Health Ministries. Over the last decade, his passion for Haiti has spilled over into his academic work. He has taken scores of Duke students and healthcare workers to Haiti to expose them to the needs of Haiti and to help improve the Haitian health system, and partnered with the Duke Global Health Institute to provide needed services in that underserved country. 

After the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Walmer mobilized the Duke and Durham community to provide assistance and support. 

"He continues his bi-monthly visits to Haiti to help them build an infrastructure [to] improve their health," wrote Dennis Clements, senior advisor for the Duke Global Health Institute, who was one of two people who nominated Walmer. "But more importantly, the example he provides encourages countless others to do the same."

Jacqueline Terrell - Involving Durham (Diversity Award)

Jacqueline Terrell has a special concern that the intellectual products at Duke are shared with the Durham community.

Terrell is the staff assistant for the Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality, a Sanford School of Public Policy research program headed by Professor William Darity, Jr.  Terrell interacts daily with scholars from many different backgrounds and countries, but she also focuses on engaging the community at her doorstep. She was instrumental in the development of the annual Black Scholars Essay competition administered by the Network, the Race Sports and Power conference, and the Monuments and Memory: Race and History conference. She was also the driving force behind the creation of a two week summer camp for local middle and high school students engages the campers in policy issues pertinent to Durham, the region and nation. 

"She consistently has taken the initiative to find creative ways to promote inclusion," Darity said. "She has put forth yeoman's work to make sure that all of Durham knows that they are welcome and wanted at Network events."

DART Analysis Team - Trimming the budget (Teamwork Award) 

A six-inch binder of PowerPoint presentations on Tim Walsh's desk contains only a fraction of the data gathered by his team to support recommendations on how Duke can save money.

Walsh, assistant vice president and university controller, is the leader of the Analysis Team for the Duke Administrative Reform Team (DART). This analysis team has compiled and assessed financial data to help Duke identify savings opportunities in the face of a budget deficit of more than $100 million during the recent recession. 

While other colleges facing similar shortfalls hired teams of consultants to identify potential savings, Provost Peter Lange and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, co-leaders of DART, turned inward to find the expertise they needed. "Tim's background in higher education consulting, together with his team members' extensive knowledge of Duke's culture and operations, enabled this group to get up to speed quickly to do the work of internal consultants while balancing the obligations of their regular day jobs," they wrote in the nomination letter.

The team has maintained a demanding schedule, meeting every other week for more than 19 months. They brainstormed ideas, followed up on dozens of ideas and conducted more than 200 interviews to help identify and deliver potential savings opportunities and supporting data. 

The results are impressive: Duke has achieved $60 million of the $100 million needed to close the anticipated budget gap by June 2012. 

Members of the DART Analysis Team: 

  • Ann Elsner, Director of Administrative Services, Duke University Libraries
  • Leigh Goller, Director, Internal Audits
  • Pat Hull, Assistant Director, Institutional Research & Manager for Space Issues, Provost's Office
  • Len Johnson, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources
  • Anne Light, Assistant to the Executive Vice President
  • Jane Pleasants, Assistant Vice President, Procurement and Supply Chain Management
  • Rachel Satterfield, Senior Director, Financial Accounting & GAAP Reporting
  • Lisa Varani, Associate Dean for Resource Planning, School of Medicine
  • Tim Walsh, Assistant Vice President and Controller, Financial Services (Team Leader)

Data Management Solutions Team - Clinical Data Collection GurusTeamwork Award 

Massive collections of data fuel clinical research, but collecting and managing this data can be a source of frustration for investigators without access to sophisticated data collection tools. An informal team of data analysts, technicians, and others who support research endeavors won a 2010 Teamwork Award for their work to reduce that frustration and improve the research mission at Duke.

In 2009, the Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI) Biomedical Informatics Core teamed up with the School of Nursing's Research Management Team (RMT) to provide support at Duke for REDCap, a freely licensed data collection tool to improve data management. 

As REDCap became more popular, many departments and groups pursued their own REDCap solutions. As each group learned the program, they would go through the same problems already encountered by others. 

And then something remarkable happened, according to Steve Woody, associate chief information officer for Duke Health Technology Solutions, in his nomination letter for the Data Management Solutions Team.

"Instead of each group going its own way, a community formed, in the spirit of helping researchers find the best environment for their research," Woody wrote. This amorphous group gradually coalesced into a team that meets monthly to discuss projects needing data management. Once they agree on the best possible solution for a researcher, a member of the team presents their recommendation to the researcher.  

"Their job, done well, simply fades into the background," Woody said. "But when members of this group accept the responsibility of managing data for the project, they allow the researcher to focus on the research itself. Their work goes to the heart of the research mission."

Members of the Data Management Solutions Team:

Bob Annechiarico, Director, Information Systems, Cancer Center; Teresa Baker, Data Tech Sr., SON; Bill Banks, Senior Manager IT, Biostatistics & Information Systems; Henry Beresford, Analyst Programmer I, SON; John Boling, Statistician III, SON; Kyle Breitschwerdt, Clinical Research Coordinator I, Center for Genomic Medicine; Madeline Carroll, Manager, Clinical Trials, Radiation Oncology; Mark Delong, Director of IT, Institute for Genome Science and Policy; Cory Ennis, Senior IT Analyst, Duke Clinical Research Institute; Shelly Epps, Clinical Research Coordinator II, SON; Bill Gilbert, Senior IT Analyst, Business Information Services; Matt Harker, Director of Information Technology, Department of Surgery; Mindy Kash, Data Technician, SON; Alex Lane, Data Manager, SON; Justin Levens, Analyst Programmer I, SON; Brian McCourt, Associate Director, Duke Clinical Research Institute; Salvatore Mungal, IT Analyst, Biostatistics and Information SystemsMark Peedin, Senior Manager, IT, Biostatistics & information Systems; Howard Shang, Director, IT, Business Information Services; Rick Sloane, Statistician III, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development; Denise Snyder, Manager, Clinical Trials, SON (Team Leader); James Topping, Clinical Data Specialist III, DCRI; Anita Walden, Manager, Clinical Data Operations, Duke Translational Medicine Institute; Megan Williams, Clinical Research Coordinator II, SON