Justin began as a student worker in January 2002, and he immediately distinguished himself with his technical expertise and good attitude. When he completed his Bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech in Computer Science in 2004, he was hired to a full time position where he progressed from being a System Support Specialist II to a System Support Specialist III in less than two years. Throughout his time here, Justin has shown an extremely high level of dedication and service to the School of Mathematics and the Institute as a whole.
As the lead system administrator for the School of Mathematics, Justin has broad responsibilities over a critical resource for one of the largest schools in the College of Sciences.
On many occasions he has demonstrated brilliant creativity by developing simple and functional solutions to tricky technical challenges. His customer service focus is apparent every single day. He works proactively and communicates well with the entire school to keep the necessarily complex computing environment up and running efficiently. He is quick to diagnose and resolve difficult technical issues, and he regularly answers urgent emails in the evenings and on the weekends.
Silas Alben, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, wrote that Justin is “very good at explaining the subtleties and pros and cons of different solutions to problems. He has a problem-solving mindset and often thinks of creative solutions to issues that arise in my computations. He has written customized scripts for my computations that have made computing much easier. He provides computing services at a much higher level than was available at my previous institutions, NYU and Harvard. My visitors from other institutions have commented on the high quality of the computing staff in Georgia Tech School of Math, which Justin exemplifies.”
Justin has continued to develop our automated install architecture and software packaging for Linux into a mature resource that is used widely across the campus. He also works hard to mentor and develop our student worker staff members, going above and beyond his job description, and he makes a positive impact on everyone with whom he interacts. Justin is truly an exceptional member of the Georgia Tech staff, one who most certainly deserved the Outstanding Staff Performance Award.
In addition, Justin also received an Honorable Mention for the Chancellor’s Customer Service Excellence Award of the Year – Individual. This is a USG system-wide award and comes on top of the Institute award for Outstanding Staff Performance Award. The Chancellor’s Customer Service Awards were created to honor employees that have gone “above and beyond” their normal job responsibilities. Justin's efforts have helped promote excellence by providing faster, friendlier and easier services to our constituents. Chancellor Davis and his champion team will present the Customer Service Award to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winners on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at the Board of Regents of the University of Georgia, Board Room.