Applause for Marilyn Johnson

“Marilyn is one of the hardest-working people in the Mathematics department. She's the first person I'll turn to with any administrative question -- if she doesn't have the answers, she works tirelessly to help me find them. Her email response time is truly unbelievable; according to my analytics program, she takes an average of 36 minutes to respond to an email, day or night, evening or weekend. From applying for grants to organizing conferences, there are any number of things that I might not have accomplished without her unwavering help and support. I'm so grateful that Marilyn is part of the Mathematics department.”

• • •

“I am the current graduate chair in the department of Mathematics, and I was also interim graduate chair during 2019-20. Marilyn is the Research and Graduate Programs Coordinator. Marilyn is on top of everything that serves our 81 graduate students - this includes all of the rules, forms and data, but also includes an understanding of the graduate course structure in the department. She often serves as an additional advising voice, and is very good at catching problems with course schedules. She is well-connected to the students - before the pandemic they were regularly in her office, but even during the pandemic she still was aware of difficulties that many of them went through. This made her an invaluable voice in adapting our program to the pandemic. In the summer of 2020 she was crucial to planning and running our qualifiers in a way that was fair (minimizing the potential for academic dishonesty) but not stressful for the students. Furthermore, she is central in our recruitment efforts. In normal years the recruitment weekend is a large responsibility, and Marilyn is especially helpful in making the potential students feel welcome. In the last two years we did things remotely - in 2020 this was a very quick adaptation (which she did smoothly), while in 2021 there were more bells and whistles, and we had an unusually effective recruitment year. She’s also does a great job helping faculty with grant proposals, making our lives a lot easier.”

• • •

“As part of making teaching assignments, I need detailed information about graduate students' course work (to make grading assignments) and about which courses they are taking (to avoid conflicts in assigning classes). Marilyn Johnson has been invaluable in collecting and organizing that information, in encouraging graduate students to register in a timely way, and generally keeping me informed of potential problems. Marilyn has been proactive, anticipating possible problems and keeping me updated. She also plays a vital role in arranging for substitute instructors when an instructor is ill or unable to teach for a day. As you might imagine, that has been a continuing issue for the last 18 months and Marilyn's early morning emails asking for substitutes has saved us from many canceled classes. Graduate students mostly teach multi-section courses and being able to keep sections roughly on schedule is helpful to both students and conveners. She has contributed and continues to contribute a lot to the day-to-day functioning of our graduate program, particularly over the course of the pandemic.”

• • •

“Marilyn has always been an integral member of the department of Mathematics. Aside from her regular duties, Marilyn regularly picks up slack where others may falter in order to assure the department is as strong as it can be. Marilyn also functions as a sort of "second mom" for graduate students in the department. Not only is Marilyn the person guaranteeing we make appropriate progress in our program, she is also the person who supports us along the way. I cannot count the number of times I have gone to Marilyn, be it in school hours or outside of school hours, for guidance and emotional support. I know I speak for the entirety of the graduate student body in the department when I say that we would not be the department we are today were it not for Marilyn's continued excellent service and commitment to the department and its people.”

• • •

“Marilyn is really just the greatest person to have in a department to talk to about anything. That includes advice about any sort of administrative stuff (she always has an accurate answer almost immediately, or at least can point you towards the person you're supposed to talk to), help with signing up for classes, help with the job search process (she was ridiculously helpful to my job search this past year in many ways), and having a friendly face in the department to just chat with. Marilyn is the epitome of consistently outstanding performance in a department.”

• • •

“Marilyn is the "Queen Mother", if you want, for our graduate program. Her office is always open to graduate students who need help or advice on everything from registering for classes to where is the best place to look for housing. She also offers a sympathetic ear to students struggling with the stress of graduate school. Marilyn is also the department's grants specialist. Her experience and vast knowledge of the myriad of rules, procedures, cost shares, what's allowed and what isn't, is priceless. She also has an amazing ability to keep grant writers on target to meet deadlines -- no easy task! Finally, she is incredibly quick to answer emails, no matter what hour of the day they are sent. Having Marilyn as a member of our staff is a huge asset to the Department.”

• • •

“Throughout her time at UNL, Marilyn has provided incredible support for the grad students in the department. She does it all, from answering questions on courses to registration to paperwork to just being available to listen and reassure us that our lives are not, in fact, in shambles. When the pandemic struck and we were not able to just drop by Marilyn's office to ask our questions, she launched a daily office hour on Zoom to provide the same support to students. There is no doubt in my mind that the graduate program would not be the same without Marilyn.”

• • •

“Marilyn Johnson's impact on my first year of graduate school could not be praised enough. Johnson's biggest contribution for my well-being and success was her response to hearing news of my father's death during this past spring semester. She was one of the reasons why I felt I could stay in this program, even through one of the hardest points of my life. She gave me the space in her (Zoom) office hour to mourn, to give me security that the department at large is here for me with whatever I needed. She helped coordinate another professor in the department to translate for my family since my father was staying in Jordan. This award highlights that an individual exhibited "service above and beyond the call of duty" and I believe that she has exhibited that proficiently in the one year I've known her. To say she is like family would be cliché, but it's true. The "she's the mom of the department" anecdotes I hear from other graduate students cements further how consistent she is in her personal mission to make this department and program technically and emotionally function.”