Staff Council named 5 award winners

The University of Pittsburgh Staff Council announced the recipients of the Staff Council Mentor Award, the Ronald W. Frisch Staff Professional Development Award and Staff Council Endowed Book Fund Award.

This year’s recipient of the Staff Council Mentor Award is Donna Kauer, personnel and administrative services manager in Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine, for her demonstrated passion for and commitment to mentoring others. She was nominated by Deborah Haralam, administrator in the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, who wrote that "Donna's mentorship has left a lasting impact on me and others, instilling confidence in our abilities while imparting invaluable knowledge. Her kindness, level-headedness, and expertise make her a truly exceptional professional, and I aspire to follow in her footsteps."

The Staff Professional Development Award provides funding to support staff members’ pursuits of professional enrichment opportunities. This year’s recipients are Eric Swift, a management consultant for Indiana County in Pitt’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Bobby Walch, a library specialist at Pitt-Greensburg. Swift will use the funds to attend the Management Development Program at Harvard University, while Walch (SCI ’22G) will put his toward student loan repayment.

Funded by staff donations from across the University, the Staff Council Endowed Book Fund Awards help undergraduate students whose parent or guardian is a Pitt staff member purchase books or supplies. This year, Staff Council awarded two $500 scholarships. One recipient was Tyler Bindas, a senior chemical engineering student in the Swanson School of Engineering, is the son of Sharon Bindas (KGSB ’95), senior director of business administration in Pitt’s School of Computing and Information. The second, Tomas Mayer-Costa, a mechanical engineering student in the Swanson School, is the son of Meg Mayer-Costa, a registered dietician in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences who has worked at Pitt for more than 20 years.