{"id":315271,"date":"2026-10-27T12:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T12:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315271\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T12:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T12:18:07","slug":"9-pitt-staffers-earned-chancellors-distinguished-service-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315271\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Pitt staffers earned Chancellor\u2019s Distinguished Service Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nine University of Pittsburgh employees have earned 2026 Chancellor\u2019s Distinguished Service Awards for Staff<\/a>. These annual accolades recognizes the work of staff members that demonstrates exceptional dedication to the University community and reflects Pitt\u2019s spirit of possibility.<\/p>\n

Recipients were selected across categories recognizing innovation, mentorship, student impact, research support, community engagement and outstanding career achievement. Each honoree receives a $2,500 prize and will be recognized at a Nov. 20 reception.<\/p>\n

Winners\u2019 names will also be added to a permanent plaque displayed in the William Pitt Union.<\/p>\n

Here are this year\u2019s winners by category:<\/p>\n

Commitment to Engagement and Wellbeing<\/p>\n

EJ Milarski-Veenis<\/p>\n

Budget and facilities manager, School of Education<\/p>\n

Recognized for \u201cco-founding and co-chairing PittWomen, an affinity group that creates professional development and social opportunities for women across Pitt.\u201d Milarski-Veenis (SPIA \u201920G) has also dedicated more than a decade to Staff Council, organizing therapy dog visits, campus tours and Family House volunteer opportunities that strengthen staff community and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Community Engagement<\/p>\n

Luz Amanda Hank<\/p>\n

Assistant director for partnerships and programming, University Center for International Studies<\/p>\n

Hank (A&S \u201906) is recognized for \u201corganizing and sustaining food distribution and delivery for immigrant families from Latin America in the Pittsburgh area.\u201d Hank also brings Latin American cultures, art and traditions into schools and communities through programs such as the Center for Latin American Studies\u2019 school visit program, Alebrijes and D\u00eda de los Muertos.<\/p>\n

Excellent Mentor<\/p>\n

Nadene Henderson<\/p>\n

Genetic counselor, School of Medicine<\/p>\n

Henderson (SPH \u201994G) is recognized for \u201ccultivating a culture of patience and openness, informed by deep expertise as a clinician, that allows mentees to ask questions, no matter how detailed, without fear of judgment.\u201d Henderson also prepared a fellow with limited experience to counsel a family through a diagnosis of Krabbe disease, a rare inherited disorder of the nervous system, treating the moment as \u201can opportunity for mutual learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exceptional Early Career Achievement<\/p>\n

Drew Hurd<\/p>\n

Clinical research coordinator, School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center<\/p>\n

Hurd (UPJ \u201922) is recognized for \u201cdeveloping innovative lab methods that directly supported two FDA drug applications and enabled first-in-human clinical trials at Hillman Cancer Center.\u201d Hurd also built a stand-alone app that tracks vaccination rates and visualizes campaign performance for the Vaccination and Health Connection Hub\u2019s HPV campaign.<\/p>\n

Innovation in Advancing Administrative and Operational Efficiency<\/p>\n

Tyler Fleck<\/p>\n

Director of research administration, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences<\/p>\n

Fleck (UPJ \u201913, EDUC \u201917G) is recognized for \u201cleading the centralization of SHRS\u2019s research financial administration, cutting new grant account activation from weeks to two days.\u201d In a single year, Fleck also more than doubled the school\u2019s compliance with sponsored program deadlines, from 32% to 71%.<\/p>\n

Outstanding Career Achievement<\/p>\n

Suzanne Leroy<\/p>\n

Executive assistant, School of Law<\/p>\n

This award honors a staff member with more than 20 years of unparalleled service to the University. Leroy (CGS \u201995) is recognized for three decades of service that included \u201cserving as the School of Law\u2019s constant\u201d through more than a decade of deans and vice deans\u201d and\u201cmanaging payroll and attendance tracking for School of Law staff with a 100% accuracy rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research Support<\/p>\n

Monica Love<\/p>\n

Project coordinator, School of Public Health<\/p>\n

Love (CGS \u201902, SCI \u201909G) is recognized for \u201cserving for more than a decade as the trusted administrative partner to Dr. Lewis Kuller,\u201d helping turn his scientific ideas into published work. Love now coordinates the multicenter ACE clinical trial and administers a training program funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, alongside four active research projects.<\/p>\n

Student Impact<\/p>\n

Rose Basso<\/p>\n

Director of dining services, Business, Hospitality and Auxiliary Services<\/p>\n

Basso is recognized for \u201cbuilding Pitt\u2019s food security infrastructure over more than a decade,\u201d including the Food Locker program and Winter Express, which serve food-insecure students \u201cwith dignity and reduced stigma.\u201d Basso also turns monthly student advisory sessions into a dining program built around students\u2019 dietary and cultural needs, earning four National Association of College and University Food Services awards this past year.<\/p>\n

University Engagement<\/p>\n

Scott Szypulski<\/p>\n

Research administrator, School of Public Health<\/p>\n

This award recognizes a staff member for exemplary participation in volunteer activities within Pitt. Szypulski (UPG \u201914, BUS \u201918G) received the honor for chairing Pitt Day at Kennywood since 2017, \u201cgrowing it into Staff Council\u2019s largest annual event,\u201d which draws 2,000 attendees a year.<\/p>\n

Szypulski has also extended that volunteer work to Pitt-Greensburg, using personal vacation time on six Habitat for Humanity service trips to mentor students and launching the program\u2019s first alumni trip.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photography by Aimee Obidzinski<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nine University of Pittsburgh employees have earned 2026 Chancellor\u2019s Distinguished Service Awards for Staff. These annual accolades recognizes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-315271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}