Staff Spotlights: Gerri Pipersburgh & Ann Wheatley
Gerri Pipersburgh, by Sophie Tidd
Gerri has been the backbone of the Chemistry Department for over the past 25 years. She joined the department as a secretary on 3 October 1994, under Duward Shriver. Since that time, Gerri has worked under a total of six additional chairs (Ibers, Wasielewski, Godwin, Hupp, Stair, and Odom), and welcomed in at least 25 of our existing faculty.
In August of 2005, Gerri was promoted to a program assistant, a title that fails to describe the many hats she’s worn over the years. For over two decades, Gerri has been the face of the department to faculty, staff, and students, not to mention corporate recruiters, vendors, and affiliates. One can only imagine doing everything she does, and has done over the course of time, prior to the advent of personal computers, email, cell phones, and last but not least, Office 365. Gerri’s work ethic, passion, and institutional knowledge have been an invaluable resource to the department. She has built a strong network over the years and always did put the department’s needs first and foremost. Gerri's last day in the Chemistry Department was 31 March 2020.
Ann Wheatley, by Rich Dodd
Recruited to come to Northwestern from the University of Wyoming by Mark Ratner in 2002, Ann has been an integral part of the Department of Chemistry since July 2004. During the past fifteen years of dedicated service to our department, Ann has set the professional benchmark through her unconditional commitment to duties. Her sage counsel and leadership of the Business Office has helped many of us navigate the financial intricacies associated with both our day-to-day and long-term financial operations.
During Ann’s tenure in our department, she has risen through the ranks from Financial Assistant to her current role as Associate Director and her contributions to this department’s success are too numerous to outline. Her support to our department touches all aspects of daily and strategic operations, guiding decisions on both internal and external financial affairs and she is viewed by all as the expert resource regarding our financial operations.
Ann’s presence will be sorely missed, but she has done an outstanding job of ensuring the Business Office will continue to seamlessly operate in her absence—a trait of a true leader. Ann's last day in the Chemistry Department was 30 April 2020.