Staff Spotlight

  1. April 12, 2010

    Occupational peace of mind for administrative assistant

    During her workdays as an administrative assistant, Cindy Glovinsky — who also is a clinical social worker — has uncovered some useful tricks for those seeking peace of mind at work. One suggestion is adding a full or partial walk to work, which decreases sensory deprivation and the feeling of cubicle confinement that may creep…
  2. March 29, 2010

    Natural instincts guide A&D studio coordinator

    An introduction to the great outdoors at a young age has blossomed into a life revolving around making environmentally conscious choices for Zack Jacobson-Weaver, the Materials Fabrication Studio coordinator at the School of Art & Design. Jacobson-Weaver says his love of the outdoors stretches back as far as he can remember. Although he has lived…
  3. March 8, 2010

    Graphic designer brings a bit of Alaska to U-M

    Dave Brenner is a self-proclaimed carnivore. A native to Fairbanks, Alaska, Brenner is used to eating all kinds of meat. “I was raised eating moose, caribou, bear, salmon and halibut,” he says. In fact, everything about the outdoors appeals to Brenner. His parents, originally from Onaway, Mich., traveled to Alaska to go hunting in 1965.…
  4. December 14, 2009

    Spotlight: Support specialist explores intersection of art, technology

    Red and green lasers shine out of vintage lunchboxes and swirl against Mike Gould’s basement laboratory walls in a whimsical fashion. Synchronized to music, the lasers can lead to hours of mindless enjoyment, he says. (Photo by Mike Gould) “Lasers are ideal mechanisms to explore the intersection of art and technology,” says Gould, a desktop…
  5. December 7, 2009

    Spotlight: U-M culinary specialist goes the distance ht:

    It’s easy to say Lizzie Burt is in tip-top shape. “I’ve completed three Boston Marathons,” she says. She has also competed multiple times in the Hawaii Ironman, and “by the fourth time, I won my age division.” But Burt, a culinary specialist with MHealthy, wasn’t always so active. Photo by Scott Soderberg, Photo Services After…
  6. November 23, 2009

    Spotlight: Broadcast journalist’s career an amazing race

    Steve Carmody is used to looking familiar to people he’s never met. After a 30-year career in journalism and a stint on reality television, he says it’s to be expected. “For a while I would run into people at airports who recognized me,” says Carmody, a general assignment reporter for Michigan Radio. “I thought, ‘How…
  7. November 16, 2009

    Spotlight: Trading floor manager has a taste for adventure

    Kai Petainen loves a good adventure. Whether it’s swimming in the Arctic Ocean or hiking mountains in the Yukon, you can count him in. Petainen, the trading floor manager of the Tozzi Finance Center at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, takes annual trips with his wife to places that most people only dream…
  8. November 9, 2009

    Spotlight: Round-the-clock creativity for AD’s go-to-guy

    From art connoisseur to creative novices, most people who walk into a gallery or museum understand the important role played by the curators and exhibition staff. “You can’t just hang a painting on a nail and wipe your hands and walk away,” says School of Art and Design (A&D) Exhibition Coordinator Mark Nielsen. “Every element…
  9. November 2, 2009

    Spotlight: Drums dominate free time for Ford School IT worker

    Some kids grow up wanting to be a rock star. Crystal Borgman became one, at least locally. Borgman, a desktop support specialist at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, spends her extra hours playing drums in a local band, Lagerhaus5. “The name was derived from my husband’s and the lead guitarist’s shared love…
  10. October 26, 2009

    Spotlight: Animation draws special appeal for consultant

    Ryan N. Wilcox is a technology guru by day and his wife’s comic book career manager by night. Not unlike the protagonists in many comic books, Wilcox and his wife, illustrator Katie Cook, maintain double lives, each attending their 9-5 jobs and then rendezvousing at home for hours of brainstorming, storyboarding and illustrating. (Photo by…