The Hamilton Lugar School’s recent Staff Appreciation Celebration marked the first time most staff members have seen one another since the Bloomington campus closed in March 2020.
Despite the overwhelming challenges of the last 15 months, the HLS staff was able to continue its success by adding two new degrees; quadrupling summer course enrollments; creating the largest enrolled Language Workshop in history; developing grants in Central Eurasian studies; leading conferences that reached thousands; hosting events that showed our social solidarity, including the series on race, gender, and power in global affairs and a roundtable on hate crimes against Asian-American and the Pacific Islander communities; and providing a campus experience for our students and faculty.
The age of COVID-19 has been tough, but the HLS staff has been tougher.
The annual celebration, which included ice cream from the Chocolate Moose, featured honors for three members of the HLS family.
Edda Callahan
Edda Callahan was honored with the Distinguished Service Award for being the glue that binds Hamilton Lugar to IU’s great tradition of global excellence. She served IU for 43 years in the Department of Germanic Languages, at the IU Medical Center at IUPUI, on the Task Force on University Organization, and in various positions at OVPIA, including as Assistant to the Dean and Assistant to the Vice President. Perhaps most importantly, Edda assisted the late Patrick O’Meara in his global travels and expansion of IU’s international profile.
Elliot Nowacky
Elliott Nowacky was awarded the HLS Outstanding Staff Person Award for 2020–21. He serves as the student services coordinator at the Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute in HLS, and the school’s military relations coordinator. He was nominated for his keen attention to detail, as well as his ability to help students see several steps ahead for the long-term and short-term, and plan accordingly. Elliott is also an excellent mentor and role model for all HLS students and has brought this same experience and energy to his role as a career cohort coach at the school.
Danielle Magid
Danielle Magid, former executive assistant to the dean and special projects, was honored with the Founder’s Award for her organization, planning, unflappability, judgement, and focus on the HLS mission. When the school opened in 2014, she served as its face and voice to the outside world. She consistently fulfilled that role with professionalism and good spirit, and has made a lasting imprint at HLS, which will benefit generations of students to come. Starting in July, Danielle will join the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC.