FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2003      File #380
Contact: Susan Kashack, Director of Communications, (707) 664-2122

Mary Rogers and Nels Worden Honored with Staff Appreciation Awards

Mary Rogers, Music, and Nels Worden, Chemistry, were honored with Staff Appreciation Awards on June 10. They received congratulations and a monetary gift during the morning session of Staff Appreciation Day.

Each will be honored next May at the Commencement 2004 ceremony. President Armiñana presented Mary and Nels with certificates and a monetary gift. Provost Bernie Goldstein read the following nomination information about each person:

Mary Rogers came to the campus in 1981. In the many letters of support that came with her nomination form, it is apparent that, as one letter states, “Mary is nothing less than the heart and soul of the Music Department. I’ve never seen Mary not greet everyone who comes to her office with a smile, a kind word and her absolute full attention. She is a cherished friend and mentor to staff, students and faculty.”

Many also speak of Mary’s above and beyond involvement in the department. Professor Gardner Rust tells of Mary’s participation specifically in the gamelan. “She joined as a way to relax after a hard day’s work.

She had no previous experience with playing music of any kind. The gamelan instruments aren’t exactly easy to learn. And she did a terrific job. Not only did she learn to play several of the instruments, she did so with a sense of purpose and lightness of spirit from which we all benefited.”

“When a student comes back after fifteen years and they are happy to see her, you can tell that even back in the early days she was that same caring and genuine person.” Mary was nominated by the staff and faculty of the Center for Performing Arts, the Music Department and the Theatre Department.

Nels Worden’s outstanding and consistent contributions have brought him nominations for this award three times. He graduated from Sonoma State in 1981 with a B.S. in chemistry. He started working at SSU in 2000 in his current position as the Chemistry Department technician and has consistently exemplified wonderful creativity in his position.

Nels participated in the creation of two new on-line experiments in the analytical chemistry class, an area in which he has an extensive professional background.

He has time and again breathed new life into outdated equipment including turning an extra display freezer in a residence hall room into a glass-doored refrigerator allowing classes to watch experiments through its doors.

For SSU’s 40th anniversary celebration, Nels took the initiative to locate argon gas and replace the oxygen inside the time capsule, better preserving the contents of the time capsule. Nels also sets up the chemical reactions for the chemistry magic show. Nels was nominated by the faculty of the Chemistry Department.