Sponsored Projects Employees Honored With Ringing of USS Arizona Bell

The bell is rung once a month to honor the achievements of UA employees, students and alumni.

The bell of the USS Arizona was rung Wednesday to honor staff members in The University of Arizona's Sponsored Projects Services.

The bell – which is rung only on significant occasions in the life of the UA – is tolled at the Student Union Memorial Center on the third Wednesday of each month during the academic year to recognize faculty, staff, students and alumni for achievements that bring prestige and recognition to themselves and the University.

Employees in the pre-award section of Sponsored Projects Services – Lori Schultz, Mary Gerrow, Susan Mundt, Anders Andersen, Christina Wallace, Gricelda LaTurco, Jennifer Showell, Karen Smith, Sean Armstrong, Kim Affolder, Susan Armstrong and Jessica Peck – stayed late and worked through the weekend to review and electronically submit 199 proposals to meet an April 27 deadline to apply for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the National Institutes of Health.

The workload was about triple the amount the section usually handles.

The Sponsored Projects Services pre-award section reviews and submits proposals submitted by campus departments to help the UA take advantage of the federal stimulus funding in order to help the University and Tucson community move forward in tough economic times.

Of 452 proposals submitted by the UA for federal stimulus funds for research, the University has received125 awards, totaling $77,728,713, according to the most recent statistics from the Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development.  

The bell was rung at 12:07 p.m. The time corresponds with the date that the battleship was sunk at Pearl Harbor: Dec. 7, 1941.

For more information, or to submit a nomination, visit the Outstanding University Achievements Web site.