President Mark Schlissel announced the winners of the President’s Staff Award of Distinction during an online ceremony July 21 to honor the 2020 University of Michigan Staff Impact Award recipients.

Schlissel presented the President’s Staff Award of Distinction to Jacob Hayward, lead applications programmer/analyst in Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering, and the Return to Sport Team, MedSport.

This special recognition honors those who have displayed outstanding innovation in support of the mission of the university.

They were among the nine individuals and six teams who were presented with Staff Impact Awards at the online ceremony.

“For a university as large as ours, it is truly impressive for a single person to have such a far-reaching impact,” Schlissel said of Hayward. “Now more than ever we need adaptable, customizable, and thoughtful systems that help us do our work.”

When honoring the MedSport team, Schlissel said, “This work will continue to have an impact for years to come, and is already making a mark outside of Michigan Medicine, including in high school programs and other clinics.”

Richard S. Holcomb Jr., associate vice president for human resources, recognized recipients by presenting digital certificates along with personal comments by members of the award selection committee.

“It’s a true honor to recognize our remarkable staff, especially now,” Holcomb said. “Their commitment, professionalism and passion to excel are wonderful examples of how we can all do our part to help Michigan rise to every challenge. Thank you and congratulations to all.”

Individual Staff Impact Award Recipients

• Jacob Hayward, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering.
• Kris Jones, CVC Ambulatory Clinic.
• Drew Bennett, Office of Technology Transfer, U-M Office of Research.
• Jennifer Jones, Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine.
• Ann Luke, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
• Zarinah Aquil, Graduate Program of Immunology.
• Catherine Luke, Conrad Jobst Vascular Research Laboratories.
• Martina Jerant, Department of Chemistry, LSA.
• Tina Picano Sroka, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, College of Engineering.

Team Staff Impact Award Recipients

• Construction Services, Health System Projects — Architecture, Engineering and Construction.
• SAVE Training Team — Michigan Medicine Security.
• MedSport Return to Sport Team.
• Center for Interprofessional Education Staff — College of Pharmacy.
• Directors at U-M North Campus Children’s Center — University Human Resources.
• First Year Experience — Office of the First Year Experience.

Presentation and Nominator Videos

The Staff Impact Awards presentation slides, which include videos supplied by award nominators, are available on the award website. The awards celebrate those who champion volunteerism and service within the university, and who find ways to collaborate across units and find solutions to make the workplace better for all. The awards recognize those who create flexible workplaces and who excel at innovation and recognize staff, supervisors and teams that make an impact with their work, locally and beyond.

The awards were developed from recommendations of a Voices of the Staff committee and are sponsored by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer in partnership with University Human Resources.