Let’s start with. “What is the SA/MBA Award?” The SA/MBA Award for Outstanding Service started with the Class of 2000. The idea was to recognize those students who have helped enhance and improve the HBS community. These students have demonstrated outstanding leadership and have set new standards for the roles they have taken, going above and beyond the call of duty.
Without further ado, the winners of this round of SA/MBA Awards are Marc Bruno, Navroz Gandhi, Stephanie Goettle, Marcelo Guinea, Nandi Gunning, Hans ten Cate, Sebastien Noel, and Patty Wu.
Whether you know Marc as President of Section OI, Co-Chair of the President’s Committee, organizer of the popular Harvard/Yale tailgate party, or honorary member of the Purple Color Squad Team, you would have to agree that he is a class act. Marc is a terrific motivator and is fun, hard working, and extremely dedicated.
Who is the Tech Rep for OI? Members of OI will tell you, “Navroz” without skipping a beat. In addition to being a conscientious Tech Rep, he is a member of the Technology Committee and a number of student/staff/faculty groups that are focused on bringing technology to HBS. That’s not all. Navroz is also the brains behind the `Tech Rap’, which is a technology information update sent out periodically to help students keep their laptops up-to-date and aware of the latest tech tips and tricks.
Stephanie, yes another OI (I sense a conspiracy here), and Nandi (OE) have been instrumental in the Student Association (SA) this year. Although a lot of their work is done behind the scenes, they have spent countless – and I mean countless – hours working on the finances and taxes of the SA as the SA Co-Treasurers. They have also helped initiate a turn around of SA Ventures, and significantly contributed to student initiatives as members of the SA Executive Committee. All this and they are always smiling.
In addition to this work, Stephanie is her section’s Social Rep, an Admissions Counselor and Treasurer of the Texas Club. Where does all that energy come from? Nandi organized this year’s Food Fight, which was a tremendous success – the amount of food raised was twice that of last year – and is an active member of the Volunteer Consulting Organization (VCO).
Should we call Marcelo, Hans and Seb our very own dream team? I think so. They are co-chairs of the Technology Committee. In this capacity they have worked to bring us the SA Community web-site, which has significantly reduced SPAM. These 3 also provide invaluable guidance and feedback on IT policies and maintain the MBA event listservs, which is quite a time-consuming task.
Patty is Senator of OF and has been involved with many issues on the Senate. She sits on the Student Services Committee and is chair of the Academic Committee. Her most distinctive quality is taking full ownership of all issues brought to her attention, which includes taking prompt action and complete follow through. She has been a model contributor to the Senate.
All these individuals have done a tremendous job this year. Thanks to Marc, Navroz, Stephanie, Marcelo, Nandi, Hans, Sebastien and Patty for their dedication and commitment to the HBS community.
In the future, if you feel that someone is deserving of this award please nominate him/her by filling in the on-line Nomination Form at www.mba.hbs.edu/admin/stulife/nominationform.html.