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Dr. Bordogna's Remarks

 

Dr. Joseph Bordogna
Deputy Director
Chief Operating Officer
National Science Foundation

Remarks, Minnie Leonard’s Retirement

September 2, 2004

Good afternoon, everyone--and Minnie, welcome back. As most of you know, Minnie officially left us just a month ago, on August 3rd, and I guess only a party could bring her back from retirement!

We're just about to celebrate Labor Day--a day that is meant to commemorate the value and dignity of work, and so this party is timely. Minnie worked at NSF for 38 years in a number of capacities, and I think she personifies those values that Labor Day stands for.

She began her service at NSF in the grants office and subsequently worked in many divisions at the Foundation and for many program officers--Al Schutzman, George Saridis, Bill Butcher, Ed Bryan, Marshall Lih, Don Senich, Fred Heineken, Norm Caplan, George Vermont, Bill Weigand, Tom Waite, Cynthia Ekstein, Nick Clesceri ... to name a few. What a powerful mechanism for training program officers! Add to all of this her interactions with so many others in her daily work, we see that Minnie is well known throughout NSF. She is known to colleagues as dedicated, helpful to others and a source of wisdom. I sampled that wisdom each time I stopped at her desk.

Not everyone knows that Minnie loves to travel, and now she’ll have more time to explore distant places. I’m told that she recently returned from a visit to South Carolina and Florida. Minnie, we know you as an independent, strong-willed woman--and I understand that you made the entire drive yourself. I hope you were able to avoid all the hurricanes and the tropical storms!

Minnie, as you leave the NSF family you will have more time to share with your other family some of that wisdom you have in your heart and mind--your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Everyone here joins with me in thanking you for your loyalty to NSF over almost four decades, for the kindness you have shown to so many of your colleagues and friends over the years, and for your hard work and dedication. Congratulations on this new chapter in your life!

 

 
 
     
 

 
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