April 27, 2007
Doran, Shelton receive Civil Service awards
CARBONDALE — Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Maureen L. Doran and Michael A. Shelton are recipients of the University's 2007 Civil Service Outstanding Service Awards.
Doran, who lives in Murphysboro, is a histology technologist with the SIU School of Medicine's Department of Anatomy in Carbondale, and is recipient of the teaching support award. Shelton, of rural Oraville, is a network engineer V with the University's Information Technology Department, and is recipient of the civil service staff award.
Doran and Shelton were honored during the Excellence Through Commitment 2007 Awards recognition ceremony, Thursday, April 26, at the Student Center. They each receive a $3,000 cash award, certificate, wristwatch from the SIU Alumni Association and a personal parking space for a year. The recognition is part of the Excellence Through Commitment Awards funded centrally by the University.
Doran has worked at SIUC since 1982, and supervises the medical school's histology center on the Carbondale campus. Among their duties, histologists prepare specimens, perform chemistry, and slice tissues used in scientific research and medical diagnosis.
Professor Richard W. Clough, who chairs the anatomy department, praised Doran's attention to detail, her gift as a teacher and her dedication in his nomination letter. He noted she is a published author in several professional publications, and said scientists and faculty "from several outside institutions have gone to great lengths to ship tissues to Maureen for histology services."
"I know of some who have sent their most important work to Maureen rather than using facilities close at hand," Clough wrote. "This speaks volumes about her professional reputation and quality of her work."
Doran, a nominee for SIUC Civil Service Employee of the Year in 2005, said she is surprised, and honored, by the recognition. She said she is honored that people thought enough of her to submit letters recommending her for the award.
"That's an honor in itself," she said.
"There are so many people at the University that do so much I wish everybody could be recognized because it's a good feeling," she said. "This is more than a job to me. It's a profession and I enjoy it."
Doran earned a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from SIUC in 1981, and is currently working on a master's degree in biology and health education.
Clough also noted that Doran is a gifted and patient teacher who has trained hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students. It is common to find her working in her laboratory on evenings and weekends, and she meets with students after hours to accommodate their schedules. In 2006, Doran received the J.B. McCormick M.D. Award from the National Society for Histotechnology for her distinguished service.
"When you are doing research, it's more than just 9-5," she said. "I'm not the only person. Anybody who comes into this building (Life Science III) any time of the day or night, there is somebody here. We work together."
In addition to her on-campus work, Doran makes presentations to grade school and high school students and youth workshops with an approach "to spark scientific interest in our youth, encouraging them to further their education," Clough stated. She is a former director of the Murphysboro Girl Scout Day Camp, and coordinated a recycling project with the Murphysboro Wal-Mart. Since, 2001, Doran has been a fitness instructor in the University's Intramural-Recreational Sports Fitness Department.
Doran and her husband, Joseph, have four children.
Shelton began his SIUC career as a student worker in fall 1988. He became a full-time network engineer in 1991. He earned a bachelor's degree in advanced technical studies from SIUC in 1991.
Shelton said he was a bit surprised by the nomination, and grateful for the thoughts contained within nomination letters. He said he has seen previous nominations for other people "and I didn't feel I measured up."
"In a lot of ways, even if I had not been selected, the letters would have been enough," he said. "It's an honor just to have the letters written."
Shelton is the senior engineer on the network engineering team within the University's Information Technology organization. The team is responsible for the design, installation and maintenance of the campus network — interconnecting 130 buildings and more than 8,000 personal computers and servers on campus, according to Information Technology Associate Director Charles R. Campbell, who nominated Shelton for the award. The team also maintains links to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the School of Medicine in Springfield, and the Internet. Shelton has played key roles in designing, planning and implementing several major upgrades over the past 16 years, and spearheaded implementing Ethernet access in residence halls in 2001.
Campbell, who hired Shelton, wrote that Shelton's "extensive knowledge and experience gained through on-the-job training over the past 16 years is unsurpassed on the Carbondale campus."
Shelton organized a computer support center last fall to assist students moving into residence halls in getting their computers updated to connect to RezNet, and recruited more than 70 staff and student volunteers to donate time to the project. More than 1,700 students were assisted, and there are plans are to repeat the program in the fall, Campbell said.
Campbell also noted Shelton has served as a mentor to numerous interns, undergraduate assistants, graduate assistants and other students. Cory Cain, a former Information Technology intern, student worker and graduate assistant, wrote that working with Shelton wasn't a job, but "a learning experience."
"I not only learned valuable technical skills from the hands-on experience he provided, but I learned about life and how to deal with many different situations and people," Cain wrote. "During my time working with Michael, I grew as a person and learned how to live life as an adult."
Shelton said he was moved by Cain's sentiments.
"I'm both humbled by that and challenged by that as well because I didn't realize how much influence I had on people I work with," he said. "When you read something like that, it drives that home."
Every one connected with the University has the opportunity to assist students, he emphasized.
"We have young minds that come to this campus and it's not just the job of the faculty to educate them," he said. "They watch everything we do and learn from that. And it's by our example that we help to develop them into the person they will become."
Shelton and his wife, Socky, have two children.
Maureen L. Doran Caption 1 Below
Michael Shelton Caption 2 Below
Caption 1: Civil Service award winner – Interim Chancellor John M. Dunn (left) congratulates Maureen L. Doran, a histology technologist with the SIU School of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy in Carbondale and recipient of the Civil Service teaching support award at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Caption 2: Civil Service staff award winner – Interim Chancellor John M. Dunn (left) congratulates Michael A. Shelton, a network engineer V with Information Technology and winner of the Civil Service staff award at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Photos by Steve Buhman