MILWAUKEE — Tom Teipel, senior architect with the Facilities Planning and Management Department at Marquette University, is the recipient of the Excellence in University Service Award.
To understand Teipel’s impact on Marquette, one only needs to look at the variety of nominators for his award: a dean, a department chair, former students, a current vice president, a retired vice president, current colleagues and a host of others who wrote in to laud him for a storied Marquette career that has spanned more than three decades.
Nearly every nominator highlighted Teipel’s quiet nature, patience and creativity, as well as his deep institutional knowledge.
One colleague recalls how the senior architect breathed new life into the Brew Bayou coffee shop in the Alumni Memorial Union; another points to his role as a mentor, educator and guide for numerous student engineering employees.
“I believe that Tom has worked on a project in every building on our campus and has worked with every university unit and academic department at one point or another,” said Lora Strigens, vice president for planning and facilities management. “That depth of institutional knowledge is so valuable to our work in FP and M and a testament to the sheer volume of projects that Tom has touched in his time here.”
Colleague Laura Hagan sums it up neatly: “I’ll cut to the chase: Tom Teipel gets things done. He also loves what he does. He loves being an architect; he loves working with contractors; he loves solving problems. But above all, he cares about people and is always thinking about how to make their environments better places to live and work.”
Teipel’s contribution and presence will be missed as he is set to retire in August.
The Excellence in University Service Awards recognize staff members for their contributions to the essential work of Marquette at the highest level of excellence. Candidates are nominated based on meritorious service that is above and beyond the duties normally assigned to their positions.
