Linda Bland receives 2013 Staff Career Achievement Award
Linda Bland, retired grants specialist in the Department of Geosciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has received the university's 2013 Staff Career Achievement Award.
Bland retired from Virginia Tech in 2012 after 36 years of service.
Created in 2011 to recognize retiring staff members, the Staff Career Achievement Award is presented annually to up to five individuals who have distinguished themselves through exemplary performance and service during their university career. Nominees must have served a minimum of 10 years at Virginia Tech. Each recipient is awarded a $1,000 cash prize.
As the Department of Geosciences' full-time financial officer, Bland’s primary duties consisted of monitoring and reconciling budgets for all departmental accounts. In addition, she was responsible for submission of all proposals to federal agencies and worked closely with the Office of Sponsored Programs. She also handled all visa and green card applications, processed terms of faculty officers, planned the department’s annual spring banquet for graduates, and published its weekly in-house newsletter.
“Linda was able to multi-task all of these jobs at once, always with a smile and never with a complaint,” said Nancy Ross, professor and department head.
Colleagues emphasized Bland’s dedication, contributions, support, guidance, and friendship that she brought to her position.
“Linda was a great source of information for students and faculty alike,” Ross said. “She warmly welcomed off-campus guests to the department, and immediately made them feel at home with her smile and genuine interest in their visit.”
Bland was an active member of the college’s staff association, serving as vice president from 2006 to 2008 and was named a university Staff Employee of the Week in 2007.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
