Each year the Berkeley Staff Assembly Committee for Excellence in Management selects a theme for an award in harmony with the goals and principles set forth by the campus administration. IEAS Associate Director Marty Backstrom was one of this year's recipients for the Excellence in Management award.
The theme for the 2011-2012 Excellence in Management Award was "Leading Through Change." This year's award recognized those supervisors and managers who skillfully addressed the needs of their unit as a whole, as well as individual employees, to successfully navigate the current and impending changes in the workplace.
A nomination for this award must be generated and supported by a minimum of one-half of a manager's direct reports. It is this tradition of being nominated by one's staff that has garnered the Excellence in Management Award its reputation as a genuine expression of a manager's or supervisor's success. Marty's nomination was supported by every member of the IEAS and center staff. This is the second Excellence in Management award that Marty has received in the 9 years he has been at IEAS. Quoting from the nomination letter,
"Martin is a brilliant scholar-turned-brilliant administrator. He is truly a gifted manager and I am profoundly grateful to be working with him."
"He really listens to what we have to say; his solutions are creative, positive, and elegant."
"Marty has a genius for highlighting the positive. With a large staff he still finds time to pay attention to individual needs. Overall, he gives us the space and encouragement to do our jobs to the best of our ability and to keep IEAS functioning as a productive ORU."
On Friday, May 18, 2012, BSA hosted its twenty-fourth annual Excellence in Management Awards Ceremony in the Booth Auditorium at the School of Law, to honor recipients of this award. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, keynote speaker for the event, presented the much-deserved award to Marty.
— IEAS Staff