Pamela D. Burrell, administrative assistant for the Office of Summer/Winter Sessions, has received the 2017 McComas Staff Leadership Award.

Burrell accepted the award, which includes $500, from President Tim Sands at the James D. McComas Leadership Seminar April 26.

The McComas Staff Leadership Award honors the significant leadership contributions of a classified or university staff member who has been employed at Virginia Tech for at least one year. The award is sponsored by University Organizational and Professional Development, the Department of Human Resources, and the Commission for Staff Policies and Affairs.

Burrell’s colleagues who nominated her spoke about the way she engages and collaborates with others and makes everyone she encounters feel valued and important.

She is credited with routinely getting projects completed accurately and on deadline, even when it means extra hours at nights and on weekends, and is thought of as a resource to her coworkers and the students who come to her for help.

“She works through the winter break to ensure winter classes go smoothly. She works weekends during Summer Academy move-in, she answers student emails at night, and she does it with her whole heart and soul,” said a coworker.

“Pam doesn’t just help students, she teaches them to do for themselves,” said another coworker.

Burrell has been at Virginia Tech since 1997 and was recently recognized for 20 years of service to the university.

In 2012, she received the Division of Undergraduate Education’s first Unsung Heroine Award for her exemplary work as an office services specialist for the Office of the University Registrar. Burrell worked in the office from 2007 to 2012assisting and receiving visitors to the office.

Burrell received an associate's degree from Allegany College of Maryland in Cumberland, Maryland.

Past recipients of the McComas Staff Leadership Award include:

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