Cranage Earns 2003 Support Staff Award

March 20, 2003
University Park, Pa. – Judy M. Cranage, of Tyrone, administrative assistant in the Penn State Institutes of the Environment, will receive the 2003 Support Staff Award at the University's Faculty/Staff Recognition Awards Program on March 24 at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.

            The award is granted each year to recognize the overall high quality performance of a non-exempt member of the support staff and his or her dedication to customer service, quality improvement, teamwork and professionalism.

            Cranage joined Penn State in 1988 as a secretary in the Institutes of the Environment, formerly known as the Environmental Consortium/Environmental Resources Research Institute, and was promoted to staff assistant in 1992 and administrative assistant in 2002. Her many responsibilities include overseeing the proposal submission process for faculty seeking grants from various private and public agencies for interdisciplinary environmental projects.

            A statement from the group that nominated her for the award notes that, "Over the years, we at the Institutes of the Environment are proud to say that we have never failed to produce and deliver a proposal on time. Judy deserves much of the credit for this record. She has that rare combination of outstanding managerial and administrative skills all wrapped up in a very friendly, positive, can-do attitude that spreads to all of our staff and faculty."

            Cranage also is the main support person for the institute's Office of the Director, helps train other staff members in the uses of new office technology, participates in meetings of the Society of Research Administrators International and volunteers as treasurer for a local Boy Scouts troop.

**gwc**

Contact: Gary W. Cramer, Penn State Department of Public Information, at
(814) 865-7517 or gwc104@psu.edu