Five employees celebrated for their contributions to York

Five exceptional York employees were honoured at a special dinner presentation on April 30. They were the recipients of the 2007 President’s Staff Recognition Awards. The awards were presented by York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, as proud family and colleagues looked on.

This year’s recipients include: Rose Crawford, assistant to the chair, Department of English, Faculty of Arts; Tobi Strohan, director, recruitment & marketing, Glendon Recruitment & Liaison Office; Sharon Sammy, administrative secretary, Office of the Associate VP International; Maddalena Dipierro, custodian, maintenance, Campus Services & Business Operations; and Gina Alexandris, assistant dean of student services, Osgoode Hall Law School.

 

Above: From left, Sharon Sammy, Tobi Strohan, Maddalena Dipierro, York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, Rose Crawford and Gina Alexandris

Sharon Sammy has worked at York since 1989, shortly after she arrived in Canada from Trinidad. An adminstrative secretary in the Office of the Associate Vice-President International, she is the recipient of The Voice of York Award, which is given to an individual employed as a receptionist or who is a first-line-of-contact person at the University. The most important voice of York is the one that callers or visitors hear first. 

An alumna of Glendon and York’s Schulich School of Business, Tobi Strohan (BA ’97, MBA ’02) is the director of recruitment and marketing in the Recruitment & Liason Office at York’s Glendon campus. Strohan is the recipient of the Confidential & Professional Management (CPM) Award, which recognizes an individual for contributions that go beyond the published requirements of a position, and performance levels that foster a high level of professionalism and usually extend beyond an individual department into the University community at large.

Maddalena Dipierro, a custodian in York’s Campus Services & Business Operations, began working at York in 1991 with the University’s Hospitality & Housing Services Department. In 2002, she moved to the Ross Building to take up her current position. Respected and endeared to all who know her, Dipierro is the recipient of the Phyllis Clark Campus Service Award. The award was created in honour of Phyllis Clark, former vice-president finance & administration at York University, and is presented to a non-academic employee who has made an exemplary contribution to the efficient, clean, safe and secure operation of campus services. 

Rose Crawford (BA ’83) is the recipient of the Ronald Kent Award. Crawford first arrived at York 34 years ago as a student. She is now the assistant to the chair, Department of English, Faculty of Arts. President Emeritus H. Ian Macdonald established this award in 1979 in memory of his driver, Ronald Kent, to acknowledge his commitment to the University throughout his years of service. Mr. Kent was an enthusiastic employee and a true ambassador for York. 

As an alumna of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, Gina Alexandris (LLB ’91) returned to York, after practicing law to become the director of career services for Osgoode in 1997. Now the assistant dean of student services, Alexandris is the recipient of the Deborah Hobson York Citizenship Award, which celebrates a commitment and enthusiasm for York University and its particular vision of higher education.

For more on the awards, visit the Office of the President Web site.