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Distinguished Teaching Awards
David Domke
Erika Goldstein
James Green
John Peterson
Priti Ramamurthy
Barry Witham
Carol Zander

Excellence in Teaching Awards
Chia-Hui Huang
Steve Wolfman

Distinguished Staff Awards
Brian Davis & James Boeckstiegel
Gary Ausman
Felicia Hecker
Sandra Kroupa
Keith Ward

Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award
Thomas Daniel

S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award
Sergio Palleroni

Outstanding Public Service Award
Anita Ramasastry

Brotman Diversity Award
Business Educational Opportunity Program
Student Outreach Ambassador Program

Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence
Dance Program
Research Apprenticeship Program

Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award
Geoff & Judy Vernon

Alumna Summa Laude Dignatus
Donald Baker

UW Recognition Award
ARCS Foundation, Seattle Chapter

President's Medalist
Roy Chan

Gary Ausman, International Services

Distinguished Staff Award

Distinguished Staff Awards are given to staff who have made outstanding contributions to the mission of their unit or the University. They respond creatively to challenges, maintain the highest standards in their work, establish productive working relationships, and promote a respectful and supportive workplace.

With retirement just around the corner, Gary Ausman is cutting back on his work schedule to half days.

For him, that means 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. “Isn’t that half a day?” he asks.

Hard work is one secret to providing the necessary support for the more than 4,200 international students and faculty who come to the UW each year, with a staff whose numbers have remained essentially unchanged since Ausman became director of the International Services Office 27 years ago.

The other secret is recruiting and keeping good people. “We hire the best and brightest, train them, point them in the right direction and get out of their way,” he says.

“It is only through the dedication and effort of this staff, and Gary’s leadership and training of them, that we are able to maintain a large and effective international component to the University,” says Vice Provost Steven Olswang, who estimates that the office has helped 100,000 individuals under Ausman’s leadership.

And to think this all began as an interim job.

Ausman received a bachelor’s degree from the UW in 1963 and taught ninth-grade for four years. He returned to campus, intending to get a master’s degree in education but later decided on public administration. While in school, he began working part-time as an assistant dean of men. In 1975, he was urged by a former vice president for student affairs to accept an interim position with the International Services Offices, which was in desperate need of stable leadership.

It was a small operation, serving 1,200 students and 100 faculty with an office staff of five. The interim job became permanent. As the scope of the UW’s international connections grew, and as the federal regulations governing international students became more complex and convoluted, Ausman and his colleagues made do with existing resources.

“Guess I was stupid,” Ausman says. “I didn’t know any better. I thought that was how all units worked.”

The heavy workload of the office is made lighter by Ausman’s caring touch and sense of humor. A letter of support for the Distinguished Staff Award, signed by everyone in the office, describes him as “the near-perfect boss,” someone “who’s so excited by his work that he actually has fun doing it.” His approach combines “patience and gentleness, tact and diplomacy, no matter how difficult the situation.”

Ausman believes that personal relationships play an essential role in overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. To that end, he is friends with people in many of the federal agencies with which he works, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the State Department, and the Department of Labor. These agencies have used Ausman and the UW as a sounding board when they are developing new policies governing international issues.

Aside from his winning interpersonal skills, Ausman’s reputation for integrity is what makes these partnerships work. “We do everything we can to comply with regulations,” he says. “As a result the UW has credibility with the federal agencies.”

This scrupulous adherence to the law can sometimes create problems with units on campus, whose primary motivation is attracting or retaining outstanding international scholars. The office must perform a balancing act in providing essential services to the campus while keeping the institution’s reputation above reproach.

“One thing I’ve learned, in my years working with internationals, is that for many people the streets of the U.S. are still lined with gold. Many of the people who come want to stay here. But I have to tell them, ‘This exchange program doesn’t work unless you return home.’ ”

But Gary Ausman’s service orientation doesn’t stop there. For more than 30 years, he has been the faculty advisor for the Chick Evans Caddie Scholars Program, which supports about 30 students on campus with full tuition awards and a housing allowance. Paris Hebert, a senior Evans Scholar in construction management, cites the crucial role Ausman has played in his own academic career. “Whether he’s talking to someone on the phone across the Pacific or speaking directly to his co-workers, Gary shares his vast knowledge and experience in his field in the most empowering way.”

He is also know in some circles as the adviser to the UW fraternities for 23 years, as Professional Staff Organization chair in 1994-95, and as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, where he retired with the rank of captain in 1990.

– Bob Roseth
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