Matt Cline, Victoria Massimino and Rhonda Moyer were honored at the Carnegie Institute of Technology's (CIT) Staff Recognition Awards luncheon and ceremony in early January.

Cline, a laboratory instructor in the Chemical Engineering Department, and Massimino, graduate program coordinator in the Engineering and Public Policy Department, earned recognition awards for their exceptional job performance, dedication, positive attitude and contributions as team players. They each received a cash prize of $500.

Moyer, business manager for the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, was the first to receive the Burritt Education Award, created to recognize staff who successfully maintain their work productivity while continuing their education. Moyer, who received a cash prize of $250, earned her master's degree in public management at the Heinz School last May.

The Burritt Award is named in memory of Tim Burritt, former undergraduate adviser for CIT, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in May 2001. Burritt earned his bachelor's degree at Duquesne University while working at Carnegie Mellon.

Matt Cline Cline was nominated by a Chemical Engineering Department team that included Ignacio Grossmann, the Rudolph R. and Florence Dean Professor of Chemical Engineering and head of the department, Assistant Department Head Toni McIltrot, professors Gary Powers, Lynn Walker and David Sholl, and more than 90 students who signed a petition in support of Cline's nomination.

Grossmann said Cline has shown "exceptional dedication" to the renovation of the department's Rothfus Laboratory and "exceptional devotion" in the instruction of courses. He praised Cline for ensuring that the equipment is operating properly and for being a great resource for students and faculty.

McIltrot called Cline an "outstanding citizen of the department" as well as an "outstanding contributor" who is "hard working and driven."

"Matt has a positive relationship and has developed an excellent rapport with students, staff and faculty alike," she said. "Matt creates a positive environment for students to learn and gain confidence in their abilities in a research lab."

"I have never met anyone quite like Matt Cline," said senior Suzanne Bleier. "He is the most devoted and enthusiastic teacher I have had at Carnegie Mellon and I know that other students realize his efforts."

Powers called Cline "a prototype of the very best laboratory instructor" at Carnegie Mellon. "He understands the whole life of a student and works to accommodate their needs in the laboratory. I consider him to be in the class of a young Larry Cartwright."

Victoria Massimino "The proof is in the outcome-an outstanding incoming graduate class for each of the past two years and a graduate program that meets the... needs of our students," said Professor Granger Morgan, head of the Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) Department, and Professor Mitchell Small in their nominating letter.

Morgan, the Lord Professor of Engineering, and Small, the H. John Heinz III Professor of Environmental Engineering, praised Massimino for attending to all aspects of the EPP graduate program and for the "overall collegiality of the department."

They lauded her for her efforts to produce the EPP graduate catalogue, for developing and implementing EPP's Web page, for preparing graduate applications for review, arranging campus interviews and answering "countless telephone and email questions from applicants."

"Vicki's dedication and performance... have been exceptional," they said.

Vice Provost for Education and EPP Professor Indira Nair said Massimino's work is exemplary and that she exhibits intelligence and innovation in all her efforts.

"Vicki is a very bright, energetic, enthusiastic, caring and hard-working person," Nair said. "She learns all aspects of every assignment, asks questions to make sure she understands the details, and carries the work to the fullest, with added quality and concern."

Doctoral student Timothy Lawrence Johnson submitted a supporting letter that was signed by about 20 other graduate students.

"What makes Vicki unique... is the intangible combination of confidence, reliability and concern she brings to her position," Johnson said. "Vicki could meet the letter of her job and be the human face of a bureaucratic system. But Vicki does not merely serve a role... she brings a creativity and patience to her work that extends beyond the range of her responsibilities-from recruitment to graduation."

Rhonda Moyer In her nomination letter, Cristina Amon, the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), said Moyer has been an integral member of her staff since 1994. She said Moyer has been promoted several times within ICES and "her ability to learn quickly helped the department through many of its critical stages."

After being promoted to ICES business manager about five years ago, Moyer began leading the institute's transition to the Oracle financial system. At the same time she decided to pursue a graduate degree in public management at the Heinz School. Her school work did not alter her job performance.

Eswaran Subrahmanian, a principal research scientist in ICES, encouraged Moyer to continue her education at Carnegie Mellon.

"I felt that she could do it because she was an intelligent person and she performed her current job extremely well," Subrahmanian said. "She has come to know and understand the institute better than many people, and successfully managed her job and education."

Amon said while Moyer attended graduate school ICES "grew into a flourishing research institute, no doubt partly due to her tireless work ethic, her can-do attitude and her enthusiasm for the College of Engineering."

"It has been delightful to witness Rhonda develop and grow, and it is even more wonderful to see that she encourages others to do the same," Amon said. "She is truly a role model and an inspiration for other staff members who have aspirations about furthering their education."