A millennium of service
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2007 was a milestone year for many at Rockefeller University. Twenty employees celebrated anniversaries and 16 people retired. The honorees of this year’s banquet, held in the Weiss Café on April 17, represent nearly 1,200 years of service to The Rockefeller University.
Retired in 2007:
Verline Barrett (Hospital Bionutrition) will be remembered for her gorgeous smile and her matzo ball soup. Having begun at Rockefeller in 1973 as a cook in the President’s House, Ms. Barrett prepared dinners for dignitaries including President Jimmy Carter before moving to the bionutrition department of the hospital.
Delia DeLa Rama (Hospital) was a per diem nurse at the hospital during the 1960s and 1980s before becoming full-time in 1989. She will be remembered for her cool demeanor, her encyclopedic knowledge of clinical study protocols and the energy she had for reunions with her family and friends in the Philippines.
Eileen M. Harkins (Finance) came to the university as a payroll clerk in 1977, but she will be most fondly remembered as the Martha Stewart of the Finance Office, renowned for her party planning and culinary skills. Ms. Harkins is now channeling the same care and attention to her church activities.
After joining the laboratory of Edward Reich as administrative assistant in 1975, Jeanne Holcomb (CBC) moved to Paul Greengard’s lab in 1983, to the Office of Sponsored Programs in 1999 and to the Comparative Bioscience Center in 2002. She took special care in her work with grant applications, and was known for kissing each one before filing it.
Eugene Keveny (Carpenter Shop) has cared for the campus grounds and buildings since 1977. He was known for his ability to mix cement faster than a portable mixer and his tendency to leave surprise treats for his coworkers.
Pearlina Marshall (Custodial) worked night shifts keeping Smith Hall and Weiss Research Building clean for nearly 43 years while simultaneously raising her three grandchildren. She now spends her time at Bally’s Silver Sneakers exercise class, at birthday parties for her grandchildren and enjoying western movies.
Known for the pride she took in her work, Elizabeth Phillips (Custodial) doublechecked every office on the third through sixth floors of Founder’s Hall. Having worked at Rockefeller nearly 26 years, Ms. Phillips now enjoys swimming lessons at the YMCA, volunteering with her church and spending time with her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Angela G. Piperno (Steinman Lab) made many contributions in her 35 years as a research associate, most notably her work in helping define the relationship between dendritic cells and HIV infection. Since retiring she spends time with her three grandchildren in Houston and at her cabin in the Catskills.
After 39 years of service at the hospital, Veronica Whiteman (Hospital Bionutrition) likes to tell stories from the days when she served meals to the doctors in a little black dress with a frilly white apron. She always arrived at work smiling, even after taking two buses and a subway from Brooklyn.
Celebrating 25 years:
With unparalleled enthusiasm and ambition, Portia Adams (Telecommunications) has been responsible for bringing the Rockefeller telephone system from an old-fashioned switchboard console system to a state-of-the-art network-based system.
Arleen Auerbach (Auerbach Lab) has made significant advances in the understanding of the inherited disorder known as Fanconi anemia, and her work led to the use of umbilical cord blood transplantation as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of hematologic disorders.
Yvena Bouillon (Purchasing) combines a contagious spirit with an indefatiguable drive for efficiency. She has a reputation as a problem solver, and people often come away from encounters with her having learned something new.
George A.M. Cross (George Cross Lab) studies the trypanosomes — parasites transmitted to the blood through insect bites — that cause the fatal diseases African Sleeping Sickness and Chagas disease. Dr. Cross is just as driven outside the laboratory and is passionate about travel, art, gardening, photography, reading, windsurfing, tennis and culinary endeavors.
Wilfredo Garcia (Security) has a welcoming smile at the campus gate, and giving directions around the city and restaurant recommendations is all in a day’s work. A passionate traveler, Mr. Garcia, aka Freddie, coordinates campus clothing drives for people around the globe who have been affected by catastrophes.
Marva Mannette-Grannum (Steinman Lab) has worked in many laboratories and has proven indispensable in all of them. Known as the lab “mother,” she is also a devoted member of her church choir and a steel drum band.
Robert G. Roeder (Roeder Lab) investigates how cells control or regulate essential cellular activity and how this process breaks down in diseases such as cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s.
Celebrating 40 years:
Anna Danner (Custodial) knows every nook and cranny of the Rockefeller campus, and of the MacInnes and Hostage Cottages as well. A devoted caretaker of four daughters and five grandchildren, Ms. Danner is also an accomplished Southern cook and baker.
Celebrating 45 years:
In addition to his significant contributions to the field of statistical physics and his dedication to administrative duties at the university, E.G.D. Cohen (E.G.D. Cohen Lab) is an ardent traveler, a connoisseur of music, a great dancer and an inspired conversationalist.
Vincent Fischetti (Fischetti Lab) studies group A streptococci bacteria and has pioneered research into the use of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a way to treat bacterial infections. A talented photographer, Dr. Fischetti’s photos have often graced the walls of Weiss Lobby.
Erika Mueller (Plant Operations) emigrated from her native Germany in 1962 and has since advanced from stenographer all the way to administrative manager in Plant Operations. She is known among her friends and associates for her compassion, discretion and trustworthiness.
Celebrating 50 years:
For half a century, Paul Rosen (Emeritus) has provided solutions for complex problems. Whether designing customized equipment for fellow scientists or answering computer-related questions or sharing his love of music to lift the spirits of friends and colleagues, Dr. Rosen has always acted as a concerned citizen of the university.
Mary Xikis (Finance) has been at Rockefeller since she was a teenager. In her current role as payroll supervisor, she has processed about 1.8 million paychecks. She has braved blackouts, system conversions and history-making snowstorms to ensure that everyone gets paid on time.
Celebrating 55 years:
T.P. King (Emeritus) has spent most of his career at Rockefeller studying the causes of seasonal allergies. The quintessential gentleman-scientist, he has established collaborations with many laboratories on and off campus, and he enjoys traveling with his wife to conferences in such places as Patagonia and the Great Barrier Reef.
Victor Wilson (Emeritus) studies the vestibular labyrinth, the complex of receptors in the inner ear that help establish our sense of space and control balance and posture. He is also a devoted husband, father and grandfather and enjoys a great love of music, fine wine and good company.
In absentia:
Retired: Mario Castillo, Ismael Diaz, Michael John, Geraldine Lindner, Joseph Nekola, Helen Shio and Linda Worn; celebrating 25 years: Paul Greengard, Nathaniel Heintz and Jeffrey Friedman; celebrating 40 years: Peter Model.
Clifton Phillips Jr.; Lourdes Quirolgico and Manija Kazmi.
Another reception on April 3 honored 50 employees celebrating their 10th and 20th anniversaries.
Celebrating 10 years:
Joseph Alonzo, Juan Bermeo, Laurel Birch, Cynthia Campos, Yaneth Castellanos, Joseph Colosi, Yin Fang, Terry Farmer, Jeffrey Finkelstein, William Gale, Prisca Gell, Sonia Gonzalez-Burrows, Peggy Hempstead, Manija Kazmi, Artemis Khatcherian, Sergey Khomuk, Margo Lettsome-Henry, Ellen Martin, Marivel Morillo, Julie Miwa, Omaira Ortiz, Michael Rossner, Angela Santana, Maija Skangalis, Laura Smith, Andreas Walz, Svetlana Zarubina and Dan Zhang.
Celebrating 20 years:
Armando Alequin, Anna Beekhee, Christian Cid, Philip DiMauro, Anne Duffy, Janet Elias, Joseph Fernandez, Olga Ford, Lee Hiltzik, Verona Johnson, Eustace King, Erwin Levold, Leon Maleson, Huascar Matos, Constantine Pavlides, Rodney Peterson, Clifton Phillips Jr., Lourdes Quirolgico, Kenneth Rose, Cynthia Seidman, Katurah Shirley and Amy Wilkerson.
