Selection criteria include:

• The nominee has had a significant and positive impact on NAPAHE.
• The nominee has demonstrated consistent and ongoing commitment to the organization.
• The nominee's accomplishments should be varied.
• The nominee's activities should serve to enhance the image of or to foster improvements in NAPAHE.
• The nominee has served as a role model and mentor to new presidential assistants.

This person has served for more than twenty years as a Presidential Assistant. Over the time that this person has been involved with our organization, she has displayed extraordinary service to our organization as a member and board member.

A respected and deeply committed colleague, she has held many leadership roles within the organization, including Secretary, Chair-elect, chair, and even stepped back up in the chair position when there was an unexpected transition of officers.

In recommending this person for this award, several NAPAHE colleagues commented that "For all of the time, energy, dedication, and personal commitment this person has done for our organization over the years, what she has truly done and accomplished over the past year for our organization goes far beyond the call of duty."

During this past year, NAPAHE faced a significant hurdle as we found ourselves transitioning our former administrator out of his role after many years of service. The NAPAHE board was facing a crisis, and while many colleagues stepped up, this person volunteered to help in enormous ways. Let me just share just a few of them with you. She spent countless hours reviewing and cataloguing our historic information and records, convinced her president to allow her institution to be the host institution for all of NAPAHE, convinced her president to allow her to use a sabbatical last August to work solely on NAPAHE matters to help us get back on our feet, and volunteered to step down from the Board to assume all of the administrative duties of NAPAHE. Thanks to her persistence, tenacity, and love for NAPAHE, not only has she turned our organization around, we are now facing a very bright future. I can honestly say, that this rare gem deserves all of our praise and is most deserving as this year's recipient of NAPAHE's Distinguished Service Award. Please join me in thanking and congratulating my good friend, and colleague, Executive Assistant to the President and Secretary of the University for Drake University, Ms. Linda Ryan to the podium.