Lorraine Kelly

One of my goals ever since I started this blog was to acknowledge (at least a fraction of the) very special people who have made a difference in my personal and professional life during these past 25 years. I am deeply indebted to each and everyone of them (even those that I might not be able to explicitly thank in this blog).  

Rather than trying to organize a list or decide on a sequence by which they should be acknowledged, I've decided to "just do it" and get started sooner rather than later. In this first entry under the 'people' label, I want to pay tribute to my dear friend Lorraine Kelly, who worked for several years in the CSE department at FAU. 

Back in 2002 I had the honor of nominating her for the FAU President’s Leadership Award (which she deservedly won). This is an excerpt of my letter of nomination:

When I first applied to FAU for my doctoral studies, Lorraine made all the difference in the world! She took my case in her hands and did everything she possibly could to ensure that my application would be received and evaluated in time and all its related documents (GRE scores, transcripts, etc.) would be properly enclosed. And she did it all without ever having met me! All she knew was my name and email address. Thanks to her kindness and attention, my paperwork got processed in due time. Looking back at that critical moment in my life and reflecting on how much she helped me, I still do not have words to thank her for all she did then.

I have been working as a faculty member for the same department since 1999. While working as an undergraduate advisor I could witness that my story was just another story of a student who had been somehow helped by her before or during their stay at FAU. I could see that what she did for me then, she still does for countless other students on a daily basis.

She treats students with care and respect, seeing the human being behind the paperwork. She goes much beyond her job description and working hours to ensure that all the students’ issues are handled promptly and zealously. She has inspired much of my work as an advisor and brought many suggestions to improve the advising process at a department level.

She is an example of professional dedication and a great human being.

Lorraine no longer works at FAU, but I have the privilege of calling her a good friend and occasionally sharing a sunrise and a cup of coffee with her.