Let's hear a 'We Are!' for these Penn Staters — Feb. 19

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 20 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.   

This week, on behalf of the entire Penn State community, we’d like to say thank you to: 

• Allison Baney, education program specialist in the College of Health and Human Development, whose nominator wrote: “Allie has brought an incredible work ethic and energy to her team! She is always willing to go the extra mile to make sure everyone succeeds. She is not only amazing at teaching children nutrition education but continuously inspires those around her with her contagious positive energy!” 
• Jaymes Dunlap, undergraduate programs assistant in the College of Engineering, whose nominator wrote: “Jaymes is one of the most positive and supportive people in the department. He is always willing to lend a hand to staff, students or faculty. He works day in and day out for our students, and he never complains about busy times. Jaymes is an irreplaceable member of the Department of Architectural of Engineering team!” 
• Heidi Elliott, application developer in Penn State IT, whose nominator wrote: “Heidi is a gem! She is managing hundreds of SIMBA integrations amongst other things. Her attention to detail, and dedication to quality work and efficiency make her a one-of-a-kind individual and help Penn State to thrive. Her team spirit and collaboration with all units should be recognized.” 
• Penny Harding, career development coordinator at Penn State Altoona, whose nominator wrote: “In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities in the Career Services office, Penny began a new program called Secondhand Lion. This program is a free service to students to ‘shop’ for gently used professional attire and items like winter coats. Students are raving about this!” 
• Gwen Harring, project manager in the Office of Transformation, whose nominator wrote: “Gwen is dedicated to the success of the work that she does and to the people involved. Besides being an excellent project manager for MyResource, she is kind, considerate and appreciative. She consistently goes above and beyond to make sure that people know that they matter in the project’s accomplishments.” 
• Therese Hohman, administrative support coordinator in academic affairs at Penn State Schuylkill, whose nominator wrote: “Therese has two roles and is talented at both. In addition to being administrative support coordinator for academic affairs, she has also taken on the position of interim administrative support coordinator in the chancellor's office. She is hard working, focused and professional with grace and kindness. She is loved by all.” 
• Yana Thal Irwin, academic adviser in Penn State World Campus, whose nominator wrote: “Ms. Irwin is a guiding light to me. She is quick to respond to emails, and she is calm, reassuring, knowledgeable and informative. And her passion is infectious! Her desire to lead students to success deserves a shoutout! I’d be lost without her!” 
• Maria Mercuri, instructional designer in the College of Engineering, whose nominator wrote: “Shoutout to Maria for her incredible innovation and the strong, collaborative relationships she's already built with faculty at Penn State! As a newcomer, her fresh perspective has sparked creative ideas that drive progress and inspire her peers. We're lucky to have her on the team!” 
• Randy Moore, systems administrator at Penn State Dickinson Law, whose nominator wrote: “We're so lucky to have Randy! He's always going the extra mile to help students, faculty and staff. His incredible patience, dedication and readiness to support everyone truly stand out. Thank you, Randy, for making such a meaningful impact every day!” 
• Robert Notari, interim regional IT director for the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton campuses, whose nominator wrote: “Rob has been there for our program for years, but throughout our new renovations this past year he has been amazing. He has developed systems that will help our nursing students achieve their goals through our simulations rooms and our faculty to work through debriefing scenarios though technology.”    
• Sara Paliga, education abroad adviser in Penn State Global, whose nominator wrote: “Sara is incredibly knowledgeable and hard-working. She has a very difficult caseload managing both incoming and outgoing study abroad programs, but she works tirelessly to ensure students have transformative educational and cultural experiences abroad. She is also a wonderful peer and friend!” 
• Colleen Racho, registrar at Penn State Hazleton and Penn State Wilkes-Barre, whose nominator wrote: “After a staff transition, Colleen happily agreed to serve as the registrar at Wilkes-Barre in addition to her regular work as registrar at the Hazleton campus.  Colleen is always willing to take on fun and special projects to provide the data needed by the academic administrators.” 
• Kelly Renn, financial associate at Penn State York, whose nominator wrote: “Kelly has always been more than willing to offer assistance to anyone who asked. Due to staff transitions she has taken on many additional roles while at the same time displaying professionalism and patience with those of us who seek her help!” 
• Rachel Ross, adjunct lecturer at Penn State Harrisburg, whose nominator wrote: “I would like to shout out Professor Ross, who teaches Sociology 20N, because she is an incredible and supportive professor. She genuinely cares for the well-being of her students so they all can succeed in her class. Thank you, Professor Ross.” 
• Beth Sawyer, education program specialist at Penn State DuBois, whose nominator wrote: “Beth is extremely valuable at our campus and is always willing to do anything to help others. She is always ready to assist with any event that is happening on campus and is a shining beacon for our campus in the community. Beth is a true Penn Stater who goes above and beyond each day!” 
• Ashley Stark, change management consultant in the Office of the President, whose nominator wrote: “Ashley did an amazing job in support of the recent PSUBuy implementation. Her willingness to fill critical roles within the project while assuming a leadership posture throughout was appreciated, as she simultaneously collaborated with other campus units and third parties for a successful rollout of training support.” 
• Holly Stoltzfus, assistant director of alumni career services for the Penn State Alumni Association, whose nominator wrote: “Holly's ability to tackle challenges head-on has made significant impacts on our team. She consistently goes above and beyond, making a real difference for Penn State alumni and students. Thank you for being an inspiring colleague, Holly!” 
• Ken Thornton, group leader for maintenance worker utility at Penn State Greater Allegheny, whose nominator wrote: “Ken always goes above and beyond to help everyone on campus. He makes sure that all event and meeting setups are done properly and in a timely manner. He always checks in afterward to make sure that everything went well. He is always working hard for our campus.” 
• Ashley Tice, financial associate in the College of Agricultural Sciences, whose nominator wrote: “Ashley has been a wonderful addition to the Department of Food Science team. She is eager to learn and make process improvements as needed. She enjoys making everyone around her feel welcome and included. She will go above and beyond to help anyone in our department.” 
• Tyler White, data analyst in Student Affairs, who received multiple nominations. One nominator wrote: “Tyler is a standout. He is incredibly encouraging, generous with his time and feedback, and talented in his data analysis and visualization expertise.” Another nominator wrote: “Tyler is an expert in creating innovative and informative visualizations to describe college student mental health data. He is recognized throughout his department as a wonderful colleague and passionate collaborator.” A third nominator wrote: “Tyler is a great coworker, always willing to step in and do whatever needs to be done. Beyond that, he's so good at his job! He's very skilled at working with data, and especially at creating compelling visualizations to tell a story with data.” 

Thank you Allison, Jaymes, Heidi, Penny, Gwen, Therese, Yana, Maria, Randy, Robert, Sara, Colleen, Kelly, Rachel, Beth, Ashley, Holly, Ken, Ashley and Tyler — and to everyone who helps make Penn State such an incredible community! 

Do you know someone who deserves a shout out? If you do, consider nominating that person by filling out a short online form.