Presented by Darrell Irvine, a professor in Biological Engineering and Materials Science Engineering and a member of the Koch Institute

I’m thrilled to celebrate the nomination of Wuhbet Abraham for an Infinite Mile Award. Wuhbet is a Technical Associate 2 in my lab. She joined my lab as a research technician in 2011.

Wuhbet is the lab’s go to expert in animal experiments. When a technically difficult experiment is called for or a new graduate student or postdoc needs help learning a particular technique, Wuhbet is the person the lab turns to for guidance.

In addition, she’s managed environmental health and safety issues for the lab for many years, helps manage our animal colony, and serves as the lab liaison with the Division of Comparative Medicine.

During the past year, when the COVID pandemic has created myriad challenges for everyone, from undergraduates to professional staff, I’ve seen firsthand Wuhbet serving as a source of physical and emotional support for struggling graduate students in the lab, even while dealing with her own daily challenges arising as a mother of young children navigating the continuing crisis created by pandemic restrictions, so this award is so well- deserved.

Let me just quote some of the folks from the lab who work with Wuhbet every day, and some of their perspectives.

• A Senior Research Associate in the lab said, “Wuhbet goes above and beyond her daily and unnoticed work to make the lab and MIT a great workplace. She can face a lot of stress, and yet always deals with it with calmness and compassion, kindness and wisdom. She has great people skills, which is a huge asset for the lab and anyone working with her.”
• A grad student in the lab says, “Wuhbet was one of my mentors when I joined the Irvine lab, taking extra time to show me how to run various assays and showing me where reagents were stored. In her role as EHS Representative, she helps coordinate the lab’s daily operations and cleaning, making the lab a safer place to work. Wuhbet is hard working and respectful. She’s always willing to make time to help with ongoing experiments, even on nights and weekends.”
• A postdoc in the lab says, “I’ve been here for just about a year, but have already witnessed multiple examples of the tasks she does without others asking her or noticing her taking care of things. She can communicate easily with everyone at different levels in our lab, and always emits positive energy.”
• And finally, another senior scientist in the lab says, “Wuhbet Abraham strongly contributes to MIT’s mission in her ability to both train and support students and researchers using her technical expertise and her strong leadership in maintaining a safe and inclusive research space. She contributes to our lab culture through her positive, engaging attitude and her commitment to a clean and safe working space.”

So as you can see, everyone in my lab so greatly appreciates everything Wuhbet does.

Presented by Lesley Millar-Nicholson, director of the Technology Licensing Office

The TLO, as it’s affectionately called, is responsible for managing intellectual property arising out of the research undertaken at MIT and Lincoln Labs.

My first interaction with Jim was in the interview process for the TLO director back in March 2016. Even then, with minimal time spent in his presence, I was struck by the many attributes highlighted here by the people wrote in support of Jim’s nomination for an IMA award.

Jim heads up a team of licensing officers and associates, and is a member of the TLO senior management team. He’s been trying to retire for years now, and each time he’s reduced his working hours in theory to begin his runway to retirement, some other event would occur – vacancies, other people retiring – and this would lead to Jim deciding to re-up his hours. That’s the level of commitment he’s given to MIT.

He’s a highly respected mentor and teacher. He is thoughtful and pragmatic, calm and methodical, a creative problem solver. A chemist by training, he brings deep technical knowledge with years of experience in industry and at MIT to guide and teach, negotiate and conclude highly complex agreements.

He cares deeply about the staff he works with, MIT and this entire innovation ecosystem. He is particularly sensitive to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and makes significant contributions to the TLO senior management team as we envision our future work environment together. He supports teams of students and researchers who participate in activities outside of the required duties of the TLO. And anyone who interacts with Jim can feel those attributes through his tone, his facial expressions, his carefully chosen words.

Faculty praise his creativity and initiative, and his understanding of the fine balancing act of meeting MIT inventors’ and other stakeholders’ needs. He is a master at finding common ground for parties. He can turn even the most skeptical person into a believer through his effective communication, his humility, and his selfless engagement style.

It has been my privilege to witness the impact that Jim has each and every day, and in his retirement at the end of this year, I know there will be a gaping hole at the TLO. But his legacy will live on in the people he has guided and mentored, and in the deals he has negotiated. I can think of no more fitting person to receive an IMA.

Presented by Edward Lau, assistant director of reactor operations at the MIT Nuclear Reactor Lab

Dane joined our team in 2012 as an Instrumentation Project Specialist. He was really good at what he does on instrument and electronics. He was creative and diligent. Before long, many research group and project teams at the lab wanted his contribution.

Dane was the first one in the history of the reactor that management team approved him to postpone getting an operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the NRC. But two years later, Dane never gave up. He successfully obtained an operating license from the NRC. And quickly after that, he participated in the most challenging project in the history of the lab, replacing its nuclear safety system.

The new system will have a fully digital centerpiece surrounded by many electronic modules as supporting peripherals. None of this module exists, so Dane participated in the design, development, building, testing, and finally put all of the modules together so that the new system can run in parallel with the existing nuclear safety system. This is how we qualify and test to sort out any bugs. For six years, Dane also participated in answering many technical questions from the NRC.

Finally, in December of 2019, NRC gave an approval to use the new digital nuclear safety system. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the installation of the new system was postponed until after MIT reopened its campus. By September of 2020, the reactor was restarted. For the first time, with a digital nuclear safety system, that was a first for high powered research reactor in the United States. The experience, the licensing process, the knowledge gained from this process would benefit not only the US nuclear industry, but the world’s industry.

Dane is a team player, always good at what he does, with an eye to assess the nuclear reactor lab at MIT to accomplish their goals and missions.

Presented by Terry Clewley

Idulia is the Human Resources Administrator in the Koch Institute, and we’ve been working together for over eight years now. Idulia really doesn’t like being the center of attention, so I’m sure she’s cringing a bit right now. But we’re all just thrilled that she’s a winner of the Infinite Mile Award this year.

I, along with several of Idulia’s and my colleagues, nominated Idulia this year not just to recognize her extraordinary cumulative contributions over many years, but also because in this past year, Idulia went above and beyond in so many ways. In addition to her regular workload of visas, personnel actions, onboarding, employee relations, just to name a few, Idulia truly helped the Koch community navigate through the many challenges presented by the pandemic.

Just to give one example that really shone the light on how deserving of this award Idulia is. Idulia oversees the visa processes for all of our international scholars and visiting students. And the past several years have been really challenging in this regard, with the constant changes in regulations, immigration laws, and all the uncertainties with visa programs. This past year, of course, complicated matters even further.

But Idulia was on top of every case, every detail, often working late into the evening and on weekends, accommodating a scholar’s schedule or a visitor calling from a different time zone. Idulia was always there to listen and to ease their concerns and anxieties during these really uncertain times.

But I’m not alone here. Several of Idulia’s colleagues join me in nominating her. And here are some of the things that they have to say:

• “Idulia’s professionalism and dedication is outstanding. Even during high- pressure stressful situations, Idulia is always pleasant, professional, kind, and effective. Most importantly, Idulia is a great person who treats everyone with dignity and fairness.”
• Another said, “Idulia’s dedication to all of the KI is truly unprecedented. She is constantly putting in extra time and effort to take care of the different needs that arise for each employee, while still finding time to support and encourage her own team with patience and humor. One of the things that I admire about Idulia is her excellent leadership of our team. She is a great influence for each member, not only at the KI but also around MIT, always creating a positive attitude.”
• Another said, “it has been an absolute pleasure to work with Idulia. Without her expertise and willingness to go above and beyond, the appointment and approval process would not be as smooth and efficient as it is. This has never been clearer than during the past year, when helping me navigate the constantly changing policies and paperwork that were additionally required due to the COVID pandemic.”
• And finally, “Idulia is always available to assist my group and myself with any issues that arise, many of which are often difficult and unusual. She always does so in a calm, professional, and caring manner.

Presented by members of the Technology Licensing Office Operations and Compliance team

The Assistant Director of Operations role is the heart of TLO’s success as a gold standard technology transfer office. In her 21 years at the TLO, Marlene’s depth of knowledge in the tech transfer, operations, compliance, and HR fields has guided and impacted staff on a daily basis.

Furthermore, to our team, Marlene is the best supervisor and friend we can ask for. She has been a role model, mentor, and amazing manager throughout the years. Her leadership, supportiveness, and empathy towards each of us has empowered us to do and strive to do our very best job.

Marlene’s knowledge of the TLO is profound. But even more significant is her unwavering curiosity and desire to understand complex topics, even after all her time at MIT. Marlene manages many components of our office, and strives to maintain our data integrity related to case type protocol, mentorship records, compliance details, and more. Marlene upholds high standards for her own work while fostering respect, camaraderie, and curiosity on her team. As fellow sleuths in Marlene’s group, we are so grateful to have such a great supervisor.

Marlene maintains each of her relationships with us with genuine warmth and care. And this has been a source of motivation throughout this unprecedented year. Despite the adjustments we’ve had to make in our work life and the necessary distance that that has put in place, Marlene’s support has been constant and unwavering.

As our office and our team prepares for the vacuum that Marlene’s departure will most certainly leave behind, we will no doubt forever benefit from her guidance and strong foundation she has helped lay down at the TLO.

Throughout the years, Marlene has positively impact the TLO, her team, and the broader MIT community. Marlene, your knowledge, leadership, and dedication to the university has encouraged us to thrive in our roles. It has indeed been a privilege to be on your team, and we thank you for your service.

Presented by Victoria Grafflin

Early on, when Alisa and I started working together, I asked her to help put together a new subaward for what looked like it was going to be fairly complicated subaward situation. And Alisa, who was relatively new to drafting subawards, went to the Sloan library, and she took out a very large book on contracting, and she went through it and reviewed language that she thought would be helpful as we drafted the language in the articles for this subaward.

And I thought that was well beyond what most people would do. I actually started a folder in my Outlook inbox called Alisa A&B, standing for Alisa Above and Beyond. And the reason I did that was because I was often copied on email threads in which Alisa was helping to solve a problem. And it was clear that she really does– did and does go above and beyond what is strictly required.

I have an example that I’d like to share from last April, actually, of one of these email threads. Alisa was helping to resolve what looked like an overbilling of F&A on a subaward agreement. The department had reached out to sponsored accounting for help. And sponsored accounting forwarded to the subawards team to figure out what was going on. It wasn’t Alisa’s department, but she jumped in to assist because her colleague was unavailable.

The analysis that she provided backed sponsored accounting into the Department prompted this response from somebody else on our team who was also copied: “Good Lord, what an analysis. Good for you, Alisa.”

I had the same reaction. She researched not only the detailed payment history and SAP, but reconciled the entire billing history against our KC records and against spreadsheets provided by the department staff. In her analysis of what had been allocated to the wrong GL account and/or purchase order, she included colored highlighted screenshots with explanations. Ultimately, she identified five separate credit and debit transactions that would be required to fix the situation, and provided detailed instructions to accounts payable, working with them for another two weeks until the situation was completely resolved.

I guess the last thing I’d like to say is that working with Alisa is an inspiration every day as a manager. To try to be the kind of manager that somebody like Alisa really deserves. Meaning that it inspires me to try to go above and beyond this. She deserves colleagues and managers who do that.

Presented by Professor John Lienhard and members of J-WAFS

I was delighted to nominate Renee for the Infinite Mile Award, because she is without any doubt the most effective staff member with whom I have worked in the course of more than 30 years at the Institute.

Renee and I built J-WAFS together as a shared enterprise, and as a result, I have seen firsthand the many ways in which she has gone above and beyond to help members of the MIT community. But rather than reciting these things myself, I invited members of the J-WAFS family to share their thanks directly to Renee. And we will hear from them now.

• I’m thankful for Renee’s support of me and the many other junior faculty who work with J-WAFS to expand MIT’S efforts to ensure food security in the US and around the world.
• Thank you for all of your help, not just with J-WAFS but also the hundred and change proposal that we put together a couple of years ago. And also the students really love it when you come to our Genetic Design class and give them a broader perspective than they otherwise would have.
• Thank you so much Renee, for being an amazing mentor for the MIT Water Club, and always willing to tirelessly provide high- impact, constructive feedback for the club’s improvement.
• You’ve been powering research, innovation, new discoveries, and new technologies which are having a real impact in the world in securing safe and plentiful food and water for all. Thank you, Renee, for being a wonderful partner and bringing great vision and enthusiasm every year to the Rabobank-MIT Business Plan Competition.
• Thank you, Renee, for your dedication in making our collaboration with industry partner Xylem a success on so many levels.
• I want to congratulate and thank you, Renee, for your support of MIT students, for the MIT Water Club, the MIT Water Conference, MIT Water Night, and the MIT Water Innovation Prize.
• Thank you, Renee, for your extremely warm welcome when I joined J-WAFS as a visiting scholar in 2015. And for immediately involving me in the work of J-WAFS and introducing me to terrific faculty and students at MIT.
• Thank you, Renee, for your never- ending and tireless support of graduate students in letting them produce the best research they can do to support development in water and food systems.
• Thank you, Renee, for your mentorship and phenomenal support to the MIT Water Club. During my time as a Co-President of the club, you were instrumental in the success of our events and activities, and I am grateful to you for that.
• Renee, I want to thank you for being such a strong advocate for me and for all of your staff at J-WAFS. You are so generous in the opportunities for leadership and growth that you provide to all of us. And I’m also so grateful for the close-knit collaborative atmosphere that you create here. The way that you ground your management style in care and mutual support is really wonderful, and has especially been during our time working remotely.
• Thank you, Renee, for your leadership, especially during this difficult period of the pandemic. You have helped build a community of support within J-WAFS, and you’ve helped us continue to succeed in achieving our mission, even during this difficult time.

Members: Courtney Bensey, Marissa Clarkson, Jamie Goldberg, Amy Holden, Nancy Sahagian, and Bernadette Vallely

Presented by Colleen Leslie

This new management team has been integral in supporting the evolution of the former Office of Sponsored Programs to what is now Research Administration Services, by fostering a supportive environment for the staff, and improving customer service. Facing growing complexity and volume, it became apparent that a new organizational structure was needed to better manage workloads and support a necessary cultural change within RAS.

A new small- team structure was implemented, and these individuals were integral to the success of that new model. Initially asked to serve as team leaders, and evolving into true managers, they provide consistent management of small teams, supporting each team member and their teams as a whole.

They exhibit professionalism, with a positive approach to change, workload and staffing issues, and the individual challenges that have been magnified during this pandemic. They sincerely support and exhibit empathy to their staff, providing a venue for open discussion and collaborative team- based problem-solving. And by developing backup strategies for the work in enhanced and creative ways, they regularly work collaboratively across their teams in support of the faculty and the MIT research administration community at large.

I’d like to share just a few of the comments provided in support of this nomination.

• “As someone who joined MIT at the beginning of the pandemic, I’m extremely appreciative for my team manager and the new team structure. Not only has my team provided a much- needed community during this time of remote work, it has been instrumental in helping me navigate MIT’S processes and in learning the MIT way.”
• “Within our small team, we have the ability to quickly reassign workloads amongst each other to help expeditiously meet sponsored deadlines. This new dynamic has made for such a positive impact on our very busy day to day activities.”
• “I find our meetings to be a great place for brainstorming how we do our work to best support each other and our departments.”
• “My team leader cares about each of us and our situation, and offers her help before anyone might appear to be struggling. This in turn encourages each of us to also offer assistance. She is supportive and encouraging, and wants each of us to advance and to succeed. She is an inspiring mentor.”
• “I still consider myself to be a fairly new member of RAS, joining a little more than a year and a half ago. I took the role because of the opportunity and the vision that was shared with me. To date, many aspects of that vision have come to fruition, including my own growth and development. I attribute much of that to the leadership, specifically the team managers. In a year where there has been so much chaos and uncertainty, the support and compassion that they have shown remain steadfast. And in a year when my own growth could have been stunted, I feel as if professionally, this has been one of the most rewarding years to date.”

In closing, I’d like to share that personally, it has been a pleasure for me to be able to witness and support the growth and development of these new team managers. I am grateful to have the opportunity work with them each and every day, and am so very proud of them for all that they have accomplished.

Members: Heidi Johnson, Tim Morin, and Dianne Tonelli

Presented by Colin Lonsdale

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the past year extraordinarily challenging for all of us, and frightening for many. Access to the observatory for those who cannot work from home effectively has been critically important to the organization, and is made possible by MIT’S COVID Pass system and the availability of regular testing. But Haystack is 25 miles from campus, so special arrangements for onsite testing had to be made.

Heidi, Tim, and Diane stepped up from the beginning to support this testing effort. They do not have medical backgrounds, nor any prior experience relative to the role they assumed. Heidi is our go-to administrative assistant. Tim is a key member of our IT team, and Diane is the senior administrative assistant for the director’s office. They all promptly volunteered and took the necessary training for COVID Pass and the observation of proper swabbing.

COVID testing at Haystack is done on Mondays and Thursdays in a two- hour window with video- monitored self- swabbing and pickup of the test kits via courier. With many dozens of staff from both Haystack and Lincoln Laboratory lining up for testing on these days, we have a significant and constantly evolving logistical challenge to accommodate everyone in an efficient yet safe manner, and it has been in addressing that challenge that the testing team has shown extraordinary commitment, energy, creativity, and proactivity for the benefit of their colleagues.

Serving on the front lines, and with the pandemic raging this past winter, and no vaccines yet available, they optimized traffic flow, HEPA filtering and ventilation arrangements; reconfigured those arrangements multiple times; did troubleshooting on the label printer; ordered and installed shielding, masks, and other supplies; monitored the swabbing; proactively addressed issues with test kit supplies; and did it all with an infectiously positive attitude that has lifted the spirits of the staff during difficult times.

This is a selfless service that they were not in any way obligated to do. They volunteered for it, and they did a spectacular job. They continue to do a spectacular job, and they are most deserving of this award.

Members: Amanda Doran, Fumiko Futai, Bay Hrach, Penny Rosser, Vivian Ruiz, Anna Smith, Patricia Toledo, and Mikiko Wada.

We acknowledge that the challenges of this past year were great for all MIT employees. But we have chosen to nominate the ISchO staff for doing their work with great skill, nimbleness, and sensitivity, while simultaneously keeping up with quickly evolving guidance from multiple government agencies impacting international scholars, researchers, professors, and lecturers.

ISchO definitely maneuvers increasingly difficult immigration situations, persistently provides the highest quality service to the MIT community, and they always go out of their way to be supportive in a myriad of ways, above and beyond what is required of their positions. Faculty, scholars, and colleagues all benefit from ISchO’s helpful demeanor and keen professionalism.

Since 2017, the immigration landscape has faced changes at a pace and breadth that had never before been seen. So much so that experienced HR partners within MIT DLCs were forced to erase everything they previously held true in regard to visa processes, procedures, rules, and timelines.

Over the past three years, ISchO has navigated immigration- focused executive orders, proposed and actual changes to the J1, H1B, and F1 OPT STEM visas; changes in procedural timelines within the USCIS; and changes in fees. Virtually nothing has remained the same. Due to the nature of how immigration regulations changed, many proposed changes were not ultimately implemented.

In response, ISchO was required to revamp processes in anticipation of potential permanent changes. This created a duality in which ISchO was forced to work under two separate guidances for every scholar under a specific visa category, in effect doubling ISchO’s work at times, half of which would not be used. This created an extraordinary and sustained burden on the ISchO team for the bulk of the past three years.

In response to this incredibly fluid landscape, ISchO did what it does best: respond with consummate professionalism, communicate widely and effectively, implement new and updated systems to assist with the challenges, and made every effort to calm and reassure the MIT community. All of this is in the context of supporting a population of over 2,000 international scholars, inclusive of researchers, professors, and lecturers, and accompanying family members on an annual basis.

In case this environment was not challenging enough, COVID-19 emerged, and among many other things, threatened MIT’s research enterprise. Without around the clock guidance from ISchO, MIT would not have maintained its high-level research output simply by lack of international talent.

As you can see, in this year of duress and international complexity, the ISchO staff that has proven over and over again their commitment to their mission to facilitate the arrival and appointment of international researchers, thus ensuring the continuity of the MIT-wide mission that states, to advance knowledge that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

We gathered statements from other MIT DLCs that have also experienced ISchO’s extraordinary impact on their respective areas. These include CSAIL HR team, the Koch HR team, the Department of Biology, as well as current and former postdocs and researchers.

In conclusion, as you can see, the ISchO team is appreciated far and wide by the MIT community and beyond. Through their tireless dedication and exemplary professionalism, MIT’S international talent and colleagues feel well-taken care of.