Stanford administrator wins award for contributions to the School of Humanities and Sciences

Marie Toney accepts the Arnice P. Streit Award as Richard Saller, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, applauds her at the lectern. (Photo credit: Christine E. Brown)

The School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) recently awarded the Arnice P. Streit Award to MARIE TONEY, administrative services manager for the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS). Toney, who recently marked 40 years of service at Stanford, received the award for her exceptional work as a university administrator in H&S.

The award honors Arnice P. Streit, who started her career in 1960 as a secretary and advanced to associate dean of finance in H&S. The award was endowed in 1987, the year Streit retired. The recipient of the award, which is given annually, receives $3,000, a plaque and a bouquet of flowers.

ROSEMARY ROGERS, a longtime co-worker and friend of Toney, and an administrative associate in the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science, presented this year’s award to Toney during an H&S celebration in May. She praised Toney for the exceptional contributions she has made over the years.

“Some have noted that her positive impact does not stop at the doors of her office, but extends well beyond H&S – strengthening communication among administrators in other schools as well,” Rogers said.

The words and phrases Toney’s nominators used to describe her included  “mentor,” “leader,” “mediator,” “bedrock” and “go-to person.”

Toney came to Stanford in 1974 as an office assistant in the Business School’s admissions office, helping to manage paper applications and documents in a pre-computer era. Since then she has worked for a number of campus units, including the office of the Dean of Humanities & Sciences, where she worked from 1995 to 1999. During that stint, Toney became familiar with the nominations and selection process for the Streit Award, which she helped administer. But she was caught completely by surprise when Rogers started describing the Streit winner at this year’s recognition event. “Oh, gosh. I think it’s me,” she recalled.

“It’s quite an honor. I work with a lot of really wonderful, deserving, hard-working, knowledgeable people,” Toney said.

Dean’s Award of Merit  

Three other staff members in H&S received the Dean’s Award of Merit. That award, now in its 18^th year, honors those who are nominated by their supervisors for “significant, meritorious contributions” during the previous calendar year.

Each of this year’s winners received a $2,000 prize. The winners are KELLY BATTCHER, finance manager the Department of Art & Art History; PATRICE O’DWYER, department manager in the Program in Theater and Performance Studies; and ELENA YUJUICO, administrative associate in the Department of Biology.