January 5, 2006
New award honors Thorud’s longtime leadership
When the UW gives out its annual awards this spring, there will be a new one added to the list. The David B. Thorud Leadership Award will be given to one faculty member and one staff member at the University.
The award honors the longtime service of Thorud, who besides serving as a dean, has been repeatedly tapped to fill in when other leadership posts became vacant. He arrived at the University in 1981 to be dean of the College of Forest Resources, and since then has served brief stints as director of government relations, acting provost (twice) and acting vice president for university relations. He retired from Forest Resources in 2000 and currently serves as special assistant to the president.
The drive to create the award was spearheaded by Arthur Nowell, dean of the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, who wanted to honor Thorud in a way that is appropriate to the roles he has filled here. Because he came in as a dean and had little direct contact with students, Nowell said, a scholarship didn’t seem like the right thing. “But there are many ways to move the institution forward, and being successful in leadership positions is certainly one of them.”
Nowell asked his fellow members of the Board of Deans to contribute to a fund for the award, which they did. President Mark Emmert matched their contributions to create a $100,000 fund. Each winner of the award will receive $2,500.
Thorud, who stepped down from his most recent stint as acting provost last summer, said the award’s creation caught him totally by surprise. “I didn’t feel as if I’d done anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “But apparently some people felt that I had made a contribution and that my style of leadership should be encouraged. I felt very honored by the recognition.”
Nowell said Thorud had “the capacity to listen to others’ problems and ask how he could help to solve them,” and he “always put the University’s values first.” Nowell emphasized the key words that are part of the criteria for the award: lead, serve, inspire and collaborate.
Joanne Suffis, interim vice president for human resources, said the award recognizes individual achievement that is in line with the spirit of the Leadership, Community and Values Initiative. “One of the things we want to do with the initiative is to tell stories about places in the University where the right things are happening,” Suffis said. “We want to honor people who are great leaders.”
Suffis emphasized that nominees do not have to hold formal leadership posts. In fact, members of the President’s Cabinet and the Board of Deans are ineligible.
Nowell, Thorud and Suffis will evaluate candidates for the award and recommend winners to the president. Nominees for the award should demonstrate the following qualities:
- Lead, serve, inspire, collaborate with broad-ranging impact that is beyond the nominee’s regular responsibilities.
- Innovation — openness to new ideas and partnerships.
- Ability to bring others along; teamwork.
- Demonstrated ability to find practical solutions to complex problems and large-scale goals.
- Demonstrated respect for others.
To nominate someone for the Thorud Leadership Award, send a one-page letter to the Thorud Leadership Selection Committee, c/o Laurie Houck, Box 351246. Because of the newness of the award, the deadline has been extended to Friday, Feb. 3.
