POD Network | Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education | The Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Service Award

The Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Service Award

Each year, the Spirit of POD Service Award Subcommittee has the option of presenting a "Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Service Award” to one of our members. The Spirit of POD Service Award is one way that POD can recognize members who have made selfless contributions through their long-time professional service to the organization and the field. …….So who was Bob and why is this award named after him?

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Bob became a member of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education when the organization was in its infancy. He was an active contributor to its conferences, served on the Core Committee, and co-chaired the 1985 Lake Lawn Wisconsin conference, the initial joint meeting with sister organization NCSPOD.

Bob was a person who always gave effort far beyond expectation to any endeavor he undertook. But he brought more than expertise and organizational skills to POD. His spirit pervaded the organization. His gentle humor, personal warmth, caring helpfulness, and commitment to sharing ideas naturally attracted people to him. He was a focal point for much networking activity; his room at conferences often became the locus of committee meetings, small group gatherings, and late evening socializing.

Bob’s sudden and untimely death soon after the 1990 Granlibakken conference sent a wave of shock throughout the organization. A year later, the Core Committee established the Bob Pierleoni Spirit-of-POD Service Award to recognize his enduring unseen presence and to honor those exceptional members who exemplified Bob’s longtime contributions and dedication to the organization.

The award consists of a block of walnut on which is mounted a piece of Celestite, a sky-blue crystalline mineral (Strontium Sulfate, SrSO₄), symbolizing the spirit and sparkle that recipients have brought to the POD Network and its members.

Criteria

Selection for this award should be based on some combination of the several attributes listed below, but is not restricted to these attributes.

Serving the organization and its members through steady participation in POD in more than routine ways (has been active in POD for at least 5 years);
Sharing knowledge, experience, materials, ideas, and support freely with other POD members;
Exercising innovative leadership in the organization;
Exemplifying the philosophy, principles, and practices of POD;
And contributing substantially to the profession of faculty, instructional and organizational development as well as to the larger higher education community.

In short, the Selection Committee would be expected to identify a candidate for the award who would be generally recognized as embodying the spirit of the organization.

Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Award
Past RECIPIENTS (*Now deceased)

2009