Engineering’s Ebling receives Distinguished Employee Award

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Pam Ebling, an accountant in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, received a Distinguished Employee Award for her support during major staff transitions and her reorganization of the department’s business office.

	PAM EBLING

Ebling came to the department during a time of chaotic change and faced a backlog of travel envelopes, outstanding purchasing-card statements and unpaid invoices, wrote Sallie Keller, the former dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, in her nomination letter.

Ebling undertook immediately the Herculean task of processing backlogged documentation and developed a system to keep incoming paperwork, receipts and invoices in order. Ebling then streamlined the process for completing graduate-student payroll and was instrumental in monitoring grant-funding processes.

“Pam’s work ethic highlights the importance that each staff member in a department has in contributing to its overall success,” Keller said. “As the chemical and biomolecular engineering office is one of the smaller staffed in the school, Pam’s business and personal skills have been even more important in enabling the department to focus on its objectives and goals.”

Kyriacos Zygourakis, the A.J. Hartsook Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor in bioengineering and department chair, described Ebling as a model colleague with outstanding professionalism and meticulousness in his nomination letter.

“[Ebling] makes the department a better place to work with her efficiency and pleasant personality,” he said. “Pam has made my job as department chair much easier.”

The Distinguished Employee Award is given by Human Resources on behalf of the university to recognize employees who perform above and beyond their job descriptions for the benefit of the Rice community. Staff may be nominated for the award by their supervisor, peers or co-workers. It is not presented as a matter of routine, and there is no annual quota. The award is designed to honor and recognize those who are most deserving and who serve as a positive role model for Rice University staff, faculty and students.

Ebling received a certificate, a silver key chain and a gift from the university and will be recognized on the Human Resources Web page.

To nominate an employee for the Distinguished Employee Award, contact Colleen Dutton at 713-348-4755 or cdutton@rice.edu.