The Center’s Donna Crowe received a “Partners in Excellence” award for her always outstanding work as office manager and executive assistant to the director of the MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. She accepted the award at a ceremony held last month.
In addition to her many duties assisting the director, including managing a complicated meeting and travel schedule, Crowe serves as primary liaison with the Human Resources department. In this role, she has been a steadfast champion of career development for non-professional staff – working diligently with hiring managers and human resources officers to look after the promotions process and support employees in developing career-building job descriptions.
Even with these time-consuming tasks, Crowe often goes above and beyond the call of duty to help people grow and indeed thrive in the Center. As just one example: Last spring and summer when she volunteered to sponsor a high school student through the MGH Summer Jobs Program. Though she knew it would entail a significant amount of extra work – to accommodate hosting the student, she would cancel planned days off – she felt it was essential to do more than simply assign benign office tasks. To this end, she worked to find scientists who would allow the student to shadow them, each for several days, giving her a deep-dive introduction to their research. The student, who aspires to be an MD, was thrilled. Ultimately, the endeavor proved to be a truly rewarding experience for a future woman of science – much more than just a summer job.
“In my opinion, Donna is a true unsung hero,” says Monica Langone, the Center’s administrative director, who nominated Crowe for the award. “She doesn’t pat herself on the back, nor does she seek accolades for every task she completes.” Indeed, the Center, and its faculty and staff, are exceedingly fortunate to have her.