More than 1,700 honored at annual Employee Service Day event
It’s no secret UTMB is comprised of some of the most outstanding employees, but on May 16, more than 1,700 were celebrated for reaching important milestones in their careers during the annual Employee Service Day ceremony in Levin Hall.
Collectively, the employees honored at the event represented 20,390 years of service to UTMB and its mission. Special service pins were presented in five-year increments, with 45 years being the longest tenure honored at the ceremony. In addition, 656 GEM card recipients were recognized for “Going the Extra Mile” in their daily activities.
Decades of Dedication
Donna Sollenberger, executive vice president and chief executive officer for the UTMB Health System, recognized four employees who have been with UTMB for 45 and 40 years respectively.
45 YEARS
Dr. Marc Shabot is a professor of Internal Medicine and the vice chair for Alumni Affairs and Development. He has devoted his career to teaching, patient care and administration of departmental and education activities, and has published in the areas of gastrointestinal ulcer disease and gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis.
He has served on more than 40 UTMB committees over the years, most of which involve patient care or medical education.
In addition, he was responsible for organizing the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine Alumni Society in 1991, and for nurturing its growth since that time.
40 YEARS
Dr. Naseem Ansari, a highly regarded expert in biochemistry and molecular biology, has focused her research on oxidative stress and inflammation in burns and a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of oxidation- and inflammation-induced pathologies.
Over the years, Ansari has trained more than 40 post-doctoral fellows and students and has mentored numerous graduate and medical students.
40 YEARS
Dr. Masood Ahmad is a professor of Internal Medicine and the Edward D. and Sally M. Futch Endowed Professor in Cardiology.
He has served as director of UTMB’s Cardiac Echocardiography Laboratory since 1982 and was named professor in 1990. His research is focused on non-invasive imaging in evaluation of left ventricular function, stress echocardiography and 3-D echocardiography.
He has been responsible for teaching and training fellows and assisting technologists in routine stress Doppler echocardiograph studies and interpretation.
40 YEARS
Robert “Dusty” Norwood, director of Record Management Compliance at UTMB, is responsible for maintaining an active and ongoing records management program to preserve and protect state records in an efficient and economical manner.
He works with all university departments to develop and certify UTMB’s Records Retention Schedule, and he develops policies, directives and instructional materials to govern the organization, maintenance and disposition of records at our institution.
Norwood became the university’s first records management officer in 1992.
The Highest Degree of Professionalism
Robert Hastedt, nurse manager of the Medical Intensive Care Unit/Cardiac Unit, received the 2018 Katherine Leone Award for Administrative Excellence.
The award recognizes a manager or supervisor at UTMB who displays the highest degree of professionalism, with a monetary prize of $7,500: $2,500 for the winning manager and $5,000 for developing and training in his or her department.
Sollenberger presented the award to Hastedt, who is described as both a manager and a leader in his role as a nurse manager in the MICU/CCU, a position he’s held since 2014.
In his four years in this role, Hastedt’s nominators said he has exemplified administrative excellence, demonstrating the values and standards found in the UTMB Professionalism Charter as well as UTMB’s core values.
The Leone Award, established in 1971, is made possible through an endowment from Dr. Nicholas Leone, a former commanding officer and director of the Public Health Service Hospital in Galveston, and his wife, Katherine.