Three staff members win 2022 Amy J. Blue Award

Three Stanford staff members are the winners of the 2022 Amy J. Blue Award, which recognizes staff members for their exceptional service and dedication to the university, support for their colleagues, and passion for their work.

Amy J. Blue, associate vice president for administrative services and facilities, died of brain cancer in May 1988. An award in her memory was established to honor staff members who are exceptionally dedicated, supportive of colleagues and passionate about their work. (Image credit: Stanford News Service)

The recipients are Ken Hsu, assistant vice provost and director of the Graduate Life Office in the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs; May-Ling Gonzales, director of alumni relations for Stanford Law School; and Susan Taylor, finance manager for the Department of Economics.

Hsu, Gonzales, and Taylor will be honored at a public ceremony on Wednesday, May 18, at 3:30 p.m. at Lagunita Court. President Marc Tessier-Lavigne will speak and present the awards, which come with a $4,000 prize. Profiles of the winners will be published in Stanford Report ahead of the ceremony.

Each year, university staff from across campus are nominated for the award. This year, the Amy J. Blue Award committee received 828 nominations for 241 unique individuals.

The award is named for Amy J. Blue, a long-time Stanford employee who held numerous positions at the university in the 1970s and 1980s, including assistant provost from 1973-78, and associate vice president for administrative services and facilities from 1987-88. Blue died of brain cancer in Palo Alto in 1988. She was 44.

Blue was noted for her many professional achievements, leadership, intellect, abundant energy, and honesty.

“Amy Blue was a dear friend and Stanford colleague – a dynamic, fun, “unstoppable” leader who cared deeply about the people in the organizations she led, inspiring their admiration and loyalty in return,” said Susan Schofield, academic secretary to the university, emerita. “As a mother who adored her two young children, striving for work-life balance, a constant juggling act, was a high priority for Amy.”

Following Blue’s death, an endowment fund at Stanford was established in her name, with contributions from her friends, family, and colleagues. The funds are used to honor her life and work by awarding Amy J. Blue Awards each year to outstanding Stanford staff. Since 1991, 106 Stanford employees have received the award.

More information about the award, including the nomination and selection processes, is available here.