People of the year

HR Magazine, Sept, 1996 by Elizabeth Sheley

SHRM membership is not a prerequisite for nominees. Current SHRM Board members may not be nominated.

Nomination forms for the 1997 Award will be included in a membership mailing due out in January. Or, contact the Society's PR department for further information, (703) 548-3440.

"Accepting this award at the SHRM Conference, I mentioned that I enjoyed being described as a role model-until someone reminded me that 'model' is defined in the dictionary as 'a small caricature of the real thing.' To be honored by my professional colleagues at this point in my career is a tremendous validation - I have done some things right! Knowing that I was nominated by my staff, who have been my teammates for nearly all of my 15 years with this company, has made it even more precious."

I am grateful also that the award recognized two things that have given me immense professional gratification. The first is my role in creating an entrepreneurial business unit within out company - a unit that should have a profound, positive effect on the way we do business in the future. The second is my public service activities, particularly my work as a state senator.

I would not have been able to do either of these without my strong staff team. They are the people who creatively manage and support the day-to-day HR processes that enable our company's flexible and committed work team to perform at a superior level and to learn new skills. In the same way, I would never have been able to take advantage of so many opportunities to be creative - nor the stamina to follow through-without great support and friendship from my husband and children. I am particularly blessed."

- Mary E. Kramer

"I have had the good fortune in my life of being befriended and nurtured by people of great vision and wisdom. They are also passionate individuals with a zest for everything in life - from music to travel to creating successful companies. These includes my dad, Ed McClary, who taught me how to turn hostile people into collaborators and to drive fast cars; my mother, Elizabeth McClary, whose organizational skills and energy are unparalleled by most mortals; and my husband, Steve, who awes me and others with his great intellectual curiosity and his willingness to commute a couple of thousand miles each week to share a frozen dinner.

I have worked with and for people who have inspired me with their humanistic views of the workplace and their comprehension of HR as a strategy for organizational success. These include CEO Mitchell Rabkin, M.D., and David Dolins, Executive VP at Beth Israel; my early mentors Douglas Saarel and Edmond Notebaert; Maria Tarullo, my HR partner at Beth Israel; and HR colleagues in ASHHRA and SHRM around the country.

I am grateful for their unflinching belief that there is always a better way and for their confidence in me, that I will find it."

- Laura Avakian

"Words are very difficult to find to express my feelings about receiving the Award for Professional Excellence at the SHRM Conference. Having known for a few weeks about the presentation, I thought I was ready for the announcement. However, to walk upon that stage in front of 6,000 plus peers and accept that plaque was quite an emotional rush.