ORAU's Fore is Honored by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
NOTE: The following release is from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a Knoxville Chamber member business.
Cathy Fore, director of collaborative initiatives in the University Partnerships Office, ORAU, has been honored for her outstanding contributions to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) community. The recognition came on Tuesday, Sept. 9, during the 2008 National HBCU Week conference, held September 7–10 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Leonard L. Haynes, executive director, White House Initiative on HBCUs, said Fore’s efforts have caused HBCUs to increase their participation in Oak Ridge relative to the fields of science and technology.
He also said, “Cathy has been a stalwart contributor and important advocate in helping the HBCU community move forward.”
Text Box: Cathy Fore, ORAU University Partnerships Office, was recognized for her advocacy of HBCU partnerships with federal agencies, private industry and other academia.Fore’s role is to create what she terms “smart” partnerships between HBCUs and federal agencies, private industry and other academia.
“As with any business venture, you first seek to understand how the business—in this case HBCUs—can support and complement your strategic mission and then create the right matches,” Fore said. “Since ORAU’s consortium members, customer base, stakeholders and work environment are rich in science and education, it seemed appropriate to establish research and development (R&D) clusters that reflect the research strengths of the HBCUs and other minority educational institutions (MEI). We identified five R&D clusters applicable to the ORAU HBCU/MEI Council of 21 colleges and learned that the colleges have among them 600 patents in those clusters.”
The “bottom line,” she explained, is finding a market niche that capitalizes on education and research innovation strengths.
Fore said that 25 years of working with HBCUs have given her a deep appreciation for the high quality of their faculty and students and the strength of their research in helping to further the national economy and research enterprise.
“What they’ve done historically and are doing for the future of this country makes being recognized by them very humbling,” she said. “I’m just an ordinary person with an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference. My message is simple: collaborate to innovate.”
Oak Ridge Associated Universities is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 99 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry.
NOTE: The following release was sent from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a Knoxville Chamber member.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.—Two Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) employees, Occupational Health Registered Nurse Sally Gadola and Project Manager Mikki Prater, are among only 27 individuals chosen this June by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) to receive a 2008 PCPFS Community Leadership Award. The national award is given annually to those who improve the lives of others within their community by providing or enhancing opportunities to engage in sports, physical activities or fitness-related programs.
“We are honored to present this award to Ms. Gadola and Ms. Prater,” said Melissa Johnson, PCPFS executive director. “Physical activity and sports participation are an important part of living a healthy, more active life, and we are pleased to recognize these two women for their commitment to making a difference and influencing the health of their communities.”
As head of ORAU’s Occupational Health Department, Gadola oversees many daily responsibilities that help ensure the health and wellness of the company’s more than 900 employees. However, it was Gadola’s effort beyond those expectations that ultimately led to her most recent recognition.
“Sally is extremely successful at showcasing the need for employees to think, act, and be healthy in all aspects of mind, body and spirituality,” said ORAU Vice President of Human Resources Dan Standley. “Her unrelenting drive to educate employees about the importance of health and wellness has resulted in numerous special guest presentations, the establishment of several company-wide health competitions, as well as regular opportunities for employees to participate in local blood donation drives.”
Prater has also led an inspiring initiative to encourage ORAU employees to adopt healthier lifestyles. She began by organizing a team of 26 co-workers to participate in a variety of walking, running and hiking activities. Later, Prater was able to negotiate free trial passes to a local gym for her team members to try the fitness-center environment, risk free. Prater also created homemade, healthy meals and shared the finished products with her co-workers to demonstrate that healthy food can taste delicious.
“Mikki has done a great deal to motivate and establish a healthy mindset for her co-workers and did so by sacrificing much of her personal time to organize, cook, plan and shop,” said Standley. “In our company’s recent wellness competition, six of the top 10 finalists and over 50 percent of the top 25 individuals were from Mikki’s team. These statistics alone demonstrate the profound, positive impact that Mikki’s efforts have had on her colleagues.”
ORAU President Ron Townsend notes that as a company that places extreme importance on the health and wellness of its employees, ORAU applauds Gadola and Prater’s efforts for helping continue a corporate culture rich in health awareness activities.
“ORAU constantly strives to promote a work environment in which employees are conscious about healthy lifestyle choices,” said Townsend. “Sally and Mikki’s infectious enthusiasm has brought awareness of healthy living to many ORAU employees and has certainly helped influence ORAU’s recognition as being one of Tennessee’s top employers for 2007 and 2008. We’re very proud of both of them.”
The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) is an advisory committee of volunteer citizens who advise the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services about physical activity, fitness and sports in America. The Office of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the HHS office containing the PCPFS Executive Director and support staff. Through its programs and partnerships with the public, private and nonprofit sectors, the Office of the PCPFS serves as a catalyst to promote health, physical activity, fitness and enjoyment for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities through participation in physical activity and sports. For more information about PCPFS please visit fitness.gov.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 99 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information about ORAU, please visit orau.org.
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