It's not surprising -- given that Elizabeth Ford is celebrating her 50th anniversary at Yale -- that the campus has changed a great deal since she first became a staff member. There were no office computers then, and the University was so small that departmental afternoon teas were commonplace.
While Ms. Ford says she misses the intimacy of those teas, she is grateful to have a computer, which has been extremely helpful in her work for the Jane Coffin Childs Foundation at the School of Medicine. Ms. Ford has spent her entire Yale career working for the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, beginning there as an assistant secretary and working her way up to become its present administrative director. Her many years at Yale have also made others see her as something much more: a historian, an efficient coordinator and a confidante.
Ms. Ford was one of 150 staff members recognized for their long service to the University at a celebration held June 4 in Commons dining hall. The dinner ceremony was hosted by President Richard C. Levin and Yale officers Alison Richard, Linda Koch Lorimer, Joseph Mullinix and Terry Holcombe.
Gone are the days, President Levin said at the event, when it was not uncommon for the majority of Yale employees to either know or recognize one another, such as it was in Ms. Ford's early days. Today, he noted, Yale is "a big and complicated place." But it is long-service employees like Ms. Ford and other staff members who have devoted a quarter-century or more of their working lives to Yale who help to keep the University the "community" that it is, he said.
"As long-service employees, you embody a wealth of knowledge that can only come from your decades of work here. You have the historical memory to put tasks in perspective and to bring your experience to work at hand. Even more than that, you usually have a deep understanding not only of your individual jobs, but of the larger workings of the institution as a whole. ... We hope that sharing this evening with your coworkers and with others who have given much of themselves to this University will please you and make you feel a part of a greater whole. All of the officers join me in honoring your achievements and in expressing gratitude to you for giving so much of your working lives to Yale."
In addition to Ms. Ford, who is the only employee to reach the half- century mark this year, others honored at the ceremony were:
45 years: Ralph Burr; 40 years: John Devlin, Robert Knox, Frances Malaney, Gloria McHugh, LaVerne Miley and Loueva Pflueger; 35 years: Janet Auditore, Thomas Barone; Mary Breitenstein, Gene Coakley, James Conyers, Terry Fleischer, Barbara Gajewski, Walter Krol, Mary Anne Schulz, Anne Stern, Ann Stoddard, Kenneth Tullo and Louis Volpi; and 30 years: Henrik Abildgaard, Marguerite Anderson, Ann-Marie Apicella, Christine Barber, Mary Bratu, Judith Brito, Nancy Bua, James Burgh Jr., Nathan Cohn, Natalie Cybriwsky, Frank Dolceacqua, Francis Esposito, Felix Flores, Franklin Frandsen, Lawrence Freeman, Dothia Greene, Pasquale Guarino Jr., Gloria Hammie, Howard Jack Jr., Maija Jansson, Vera Karpe, Russell Kozak, Verna Lingis, Rosalyn Liss, Ann-Marie Logan, Judith Long, Patricia Mack, Anthony Massini, Bobby McKnight, Henry McKnight, Roberto Meinrath, Monty Montee, Linda Morrissey, Marion Mulrine, Ann Palmeri, Katherine Papov, Arthur Pepine, Susan Peters, Barbara Renckowski, Elinore Senick, Rita Silvestro, Patricia Simon, Sally Styfco, Arthur Williams and Cora Winn.
25 years: Sonya Alderman, Bernardo Azurin, Margaret Barulli, James Bertilson, Hattie Blanks, Anthony Bonaffini, Dan Bromell, Candace Bryce, Marjorie Buccino, Diane Casertano, Hsiao-Chiang Chen, Joseph Concelmo, Spyros Condos, Teresa Coppola, Frances Curbelo, Robert DeBernardo, Vincent DeFeo Jr., Ernest DeSalvatore Jr., Karen Dougherty, Johnny Edwards, Marilyn Ferrari, Milton Flaks, Will Foskey, Thomas Gaudioso, Janice Gore, Mary Graham, Craig Grant, Adelle Hack, Judith Hackman, Rebecca Hamilton, Costella Hatcher, Judith Hildebrand, Cassel Hines, Frances Holloway, Patricia Hooker and Rena Hunter.
Also, Elizabeth Jasiorkowski, Barbara Johnson, Chaline Johnson, Helen Kiedinger, Robert Kubicko, Elizabeth Kuklinski, John Kul, Janusz Kulakowski, Roosevelt Lee, John Lucibello, Patrick Lynch, Ronald Mariano, Barbara Martone Jamilik, Marybeth McCaulley, Patricia McCormick, Christine Melnyk, Carlos Mercado-Santiago, Judith Metro, Molly Meyer, York Mitchell, Judith Moore, Janett Nabors, Patricia O'Shaughnessy, Pauline Orlando, Pamela Ossorio, John Ottenbreit Jr., Albert Peters, Richard Pierpont, Rosemary Plotnick, Frank Proto, Carolyn Quattlebaum, William Renouf, Roseann Rogers, Vicente Roman, Maria San Juan, Emma Shepherd, Pamela Sims, Frances Sinclair, Noreen Slater, William Stanton Jr., Mary Jane Stevens, Evelyn Streater-Frizzle, J. Lloyd Suttle, Florence Thomas, Mary Varga, Frank Velez, Robert Villani and Anthony Zirles.