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Anne McGee, Associate Director and Academic Advisor of Graduate Programs at IU McKinney, received the IUPUI Gerald L. Bepko Staff Council Spirit Award. She was given the honor during the Chancellor’s Staff Recognition Ceremony on November 8.

The award is presented to full-time staff members who through their extraordinary service and special contributions exemplify the spirit of IUPUI, strengthening the campus by fostering collegiality, cooperation, creativity, and innovation toward the end of helping IUPUI become one of the nation’s best urban universities for employment and education. It is named for the late Gerald L. Bepko, IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of IU McKinney.

Anne’s supervisor, Associate Dean of Graduate & International Programs, Professor Tom Wilson, wrote in his nomination of McGee for the award, “Before I assumed this role in July of 2022, the graduate programs office had experienced the loss of three employees, leaving only Anne.  Anne worked tirelessly to help get the office back on its feet, daily learning and carrying out the tasks formerly done by the departed employees. Anne's extraordinary effort is explained by her defining characteristic: she loves the law school, she loves IUPUI, and she loves our graduate students. Almost all of our LL.M. students are foreign nationals who come from countries all over the globe.  Anne understands the anxiety these students feel when they leave home and come to Indy to pursue a dream.  She makes it her mission to make sure the foreign students' needs are met.  To them, Anne is a wise counselor, compassionate counselor, and smiling friend.  She eases fears and inspires success.”

Her colleague Andrew Bell, Web Developer at McKinney, also wrote “Anne's spirit is contagious. She has done wonders to improve the morale and engagement of staff here at the law school…By uniting staff from different departments throughout the building she has built a strong comradery between our various units which has provided an internal support system that we didn’t even realize was missing.”

“[Anne’s] passion for inclusivity knows no bounds and she has never met a stranger,” wrote Assistant Dean for External Affairs Elizabeth Allington who has worked with Anne for nearly 10 years.  “One shining example of the Hoosier (and IUPUI) hospitality she displays to our international students is the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the graduate students, most of whom are from other countries. She works tirelessly to make the occasion fun and festive for everyone and succeeds every time. The smiles and happy memories from this occasion give students from abroad a particularly welcoming impression of our school, campus, city, and American culture in general….Anne is not anywhere close to retirement, but she aspires to stay here for the rest of her career and follow in the footsteps of her mentor, who was none other than Chancellor Bepko himself….Anne is constantly seeking to make everyone in the IUPUI ecosystem feel as at home as she does here. To know Anne is to feel loved and cared about on a very deep level, and she gives this same level of care to everyone she meets.”

In the photo, Anne McGee (left) receives her award from IUPUI Staff Council President Sarah Staggs (center) along with fellow award recipient Cindy Harkness.