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Linda W. Cook has received the fourth Robert R. Cornwell Unsung Hero Award.
The registrar for the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in
the School of Public Health for 25 years, Cook has stayed on top of the
intricacies of admissions, financial aid and graduation requirements "while
keeping up with the never-ending changes in departmental, school and University
policies that keep her job in constant transition," wrote nominator Jo Ann
Earp, department chair. "Applicants, students, faculty and alumni all depend on
her for reliable information, sympathetic guidance and practical help."
Along with handling the practical side of her job, Earp said, "Linda has been
`the ear' for hundreds and hundreds of students. She knows how to solve
problems ... and knows how to reassure anxious people." Earp called her the den
mother of the department.
Cook said she enjoys working with the 125 students and 20 permanent faculty
members of the department -- many of whom attended the presentation ceremony on
April 29. "I can't get enough of people. I really enjoy the students. I take
care of [them] like a mother away from home."
Master's student Frederick Isasi, who works part-time with Cook, said she is
the best boss he has had and goes out of her way to help students. When Cook
received notice of graduate student tuition remission money available with a
24-hour deadline, she worked until midnight to finish the paperwork that
resulted in thousands of dollars in savings for the students, Isasi said.
Because they relied on her so much as students, graduates of the master's
program considering returning for a Ph.D. ask if Cook still is at the school
before deciding, Isasi said.
Along with the award, Cook received a bouquet at the ceremony and later
another bouquet from the department's class of 1996. "This can go on forever,"
she said. "I love flowers."
Robert R. Cornwell, for whom the award is named, was associate University
registrar and a research associate in the Office of Institutional Research for
20 years before dying suddenly in 1994. The Office of Institutional Research
sponsors the award "in honor of Bob's outstanding service to the University and
his often invisible role in many projects."
Other nominees for the award were:
* Angell G. Beza, Institute for Research
in Social Science;
* John C. Boger, School of Law;
* Gail Gibbs, School of Public Health;
* Shelby Harris, General College;
* Judy Lewter, Graduate School;
* Tim Quigg, computer science;
* Pamela Stokes, Romance languages and literature; and
* Braxton L. Tesh, Institute for Marine Science.
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