Distinguished Service Award Given to Mark Stephens

The Stan and Paula Warmath Distinguished Service Award is given on an annual basis and recognizes a staff member or specialized faculty member for their dedicated service to the department. Mark Stephens is the recipient of the 2020-2021 award, which is made possible by a gift from a generous donor and friend of the department, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Mark is Webmaster and Technical Support Analyst for the Department of Psychology and has been on the job since October of 2000. At the time Mark was hired, the department website had previously been maintained by the department’s Facilities personnel and was a relatively new concept. The idea of an employee with website design and maintenance as a primary job responsibility was a new concept as well. As time went on, Mark’s responsibilities increased to include classroom audio/visual as well as departmental computer technical support. Under the guidance of Don Donaldson, who served as the department’s Senior Computer Research Specialist for over 30 years (1986-2017), Mark was also involved in implementing several larger and more detailed website programming projects. Mark credits his many exceptional colleagues over the years for their timely and knowledgeable assistance in helping him embrace new challenges as they arise.

Some quotes from the nomination letters show the enthusiasm and gratitude for Mark’s service contributions:

"Mark’s work ethic and knowledge significantly contribute to our department’s mission. He is ‘all in’ toward the success of our department."

"Mark is extremely reliable. Year after year, faculty, staff, and graduate students all complement him on his dedication, attention to detail, and timely response."

"Mark’s exceptional support over the years and his contributions to the service, teaching, and research missions of our department make him highly deserving of this award."

"Although we may think of Mark’s contributions to the department largely in terms of his work on the website (which is excellent), there are so many smaller ways that he contributes to the work that we all do in the department. He consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty."

The Stan and Paula Warmath Distinguished Service Award was established as a lasting tribute to the vision and commitment of Stan and Paula Warmath and their loyalty and service to the department. Paula earned her BS in psychology at FSU in 1980. She worked for the department for two years after graduation and it was during this time that she and Stan met.

Stan earned his BS in psychology at FSU in 1969 and an MS in experimental psychology in 1978. He became labs manager in 1980 and ended his time in the department as the Director of Facilities and Operations. In that position, Stan played a significant role in the planning of and move to the new Psychology Department Building.

In the two years prior to his retirement in 2011, Stan served as the renovation and building coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences.