2017 Employees of the Month

Arnold Shir, a research assistant at Stanford Health Policy, says that his work keeps him on his toes… and that he enjoys every second of it.

Sometimes, of course, that’s just what people say, but Arnold’s enjoyment of his work is clear to colleagues like Marcella Alsan, who calls him “a ray of sunshine.” Nicole Feldman says, “I have never met a more positive person than Arnold Shir.” Along with colleagues Michelle Zhao and Elena Lucchese, she specifically remarks on Arnold’s “sunny disposition.”

Erin Avery used to be a field biologist who worked primarily in botany. And she loved it. However, she spent long days working alone. When the mortgage crisis in 2007 caused many of her projects to lose funding, she used the opportunity to make a change and go back to school to explore her lifelong fascination with nutrition. She says, “I was always interested in how nutrition could best support endurance sports, as well as health and longevity, but now I also saw nutrition as a potential pathway to a job that I could be excited about, engaged in, and that would allow me to work with other people in a collaborative way and to have a positive impact on people.”

Michelle Lee, recruitment and alumni relations administrator for the Medicine Residency and Educational Programs, is seen as something of a superwoman in her division. “She exemplifies dedication to her job while having a great attitude and treating others with great hospitality!” Katherine Ozeki, MD, said. Lee, who came to Stanford in March 2015 after working in academic advising and student affairs for the UC system, has become, as Audrey Holmes puts it, “a gem in our fast-paced office.”