Gary Cromwell honored with Chancellor's Distinguished Staff Award

ECE ILLINOIS facilities manager Gary L Cromwell was recently announced as one of the eight employees to be honored with the Chancellor's Distinguished Staff Award. Each recipient of the award will be recognized at a banquet on May 1 and receive $1000 and a plaque. Their names will also be engraved on a plaque displayed in the Illinois Human Resources Office.

Nominator Timothy Joseph Newman, the department’s director of facilities, said Cromwell manages the operations and maintenance needs for the research and instructional lab facility, as well as four field sites totaling 825-acres of research farmlands and outbuildings.

He also oversees the department’s shipping and receiving operations, copy center, supply center, event management, building access control, building safety and management of over $3.7 million worth of capital equipment.

Newman said Cromwell’s character came to the forefront during the department's 2014 move from Everitt Laboratory to the new ECE building. “Gary's positive morale not only strengthens the facilities team, but also is contagious in promoting positivity throughout the ECE department.” When problems arise, “he maintains an even keel that ensures everyone remains calm and thinks through the problem for solutions.”

Newman also shared an example of a professor who needed to ship 30 boxes of books to a seminar in New Orleans. After considering the costs of shipping, Cromwell drove the load to New Orleans and assisted the professor with the seminar.

 

Check out the rest of the awardees in the original story from the Illinois News Bureau.