Dr. Sameer Siddiqui Named to St. Louis Business Journal's "40 Under 40"

The Department of Surgery is very proud to announce this year's 40 under 40 recipient, Dr. Sameer Siddiqui, Chief of the Division of Urology.

Dr. Siddiqui has accomplished so much in his short time here with Saint Louis University. He has practically rebuilt the urology division with the hiring of 4 urologist since his start here in 2014. The residency program was diminished and after 2 years of hard work, the residency program went into full swing with 3 residents and the 4th resident starting in July.

Dr. Siddiqui is a very humble person and doesn't take credit for his accomplishments. He will tell you that it is the team that he built that has made it possible. His dedication to Saint Louis University, his patients, and his department is unprecedented.

Congratulations to Dr. Siddiqui! Click on the picture below to view the article from The Saint Louis Business Journal about Dr. Siddiqui. 

Congratulations to those Celebrating Milestone Service Anniversaries!

We would like to congratulate those who are celebrating 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years of service in February and March 2017.

Thank you for your service at SLU!

35 Years

• Kathleen B. Merlo

30 Years

• Sandra Kay Bopp
• Nanette A. Parris
• Bekuretsion Tekle
• Donald E. Shivers

25 Years

• Deborah J. Allinson
• Mary K. Dorsey
• Diane S. Goebel
• Mark G. Haenchen

20 Years

• Roger C. Andrews
• Bridget A. DeClue
• Jeanne Lawo
• Betty Nelson
• Howard M. Place
• Stephen P. Waldman
• Jeffrey A. Young

15 Years

• Banke Agarwal, M.D.
• Steven J. Bander, M.D.
• Tremeka S. Barner-Brown 
• LouAnn A. Biermann 
• Lawrence G. Bommarito 
• Martin M. Clay, Jr.
• Hillary L. Daniel 
• Cynthia L. Fairchild
• Rosemary M. King 
• Mary A. Lapusan
• Rosemary M. King
• Matthew L. Krob  
• Denise Passanise
• Christopher J. Pieper 
• Antonio B. Thomas
• James L. Van Nest, Jr.

10 Years

• Barbara L. Bequette 
• Mary T. Cook
• Cynthia M. Gaume 
• Silvia Gonzalez
• Sandra L. Hampton
• Patrick G. Harvey
• Cherell M. Johnson 
• Juanika L. Jones
• Alexis A. Posnanski
• Joann M. Rolfi
• Brandon L. Verhoff 

5 Years

• Kelley M. Belina
• Rachael J. Bradshaw, M.S.
• Daniel C. Brewer, B.S.
• James R. Carpentier
• Luz E. Carriedo 
• Victoria E. Cornelius
• Nathan E. Cowen
• Carrie A. Cupples
• Daniel P. Gillen, M.D.
• Debra H. Williams 
• Lauren K. Landfried, B.S.
• Matthew R. Lisko
• Veronica J. Quarles  
• Emily R. Scherliss
• Brittani Schwartzkopf
• Katherine Shields 
• John P. Soucy
• John J. Stephens, M.D.
• Joseph M. Taylor 
• Chezna M. Warner, PA-C, M.H.S.
• Lawanda D. Warren 
• Debra H. Williams 

Chantel Payne Received a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Chantel Payne, Surgery-DOB, who received a SLU Spark! Chantel was recognized by Linda Postula, Surgery-DOB, for showing compassion.

"I received a call today from a patient's daughter. The woman told me her father was being seen at our new location, 6400 Clayton Rd. Once her Dad had been taken back it became too painful for the daughter to sit in the chair. The woman was having a lot of discomfort, as she has a history of back issues. Chantel noticed the woman's discomfort and asked if she could do anything to help. The woman asked if it would be ok if she went to her car and waited for her Dad, and she would come back in at whatever time they told her. Chantel asked her where she was parked, and the woman stated she was in the parking garage. Chantel told her that would not be necessary, and she would bring her father to the car when he was done with the appointment. The daughter was most grateful as she said you don't find that kind of customer service anymore. Kudos to Chantel for showing kindness and compassion to a family member, and for noticing this woman's discomfort as she was waiting for her Dad. Thank you Chantel for all you do and the kindness you displayed."

Brianne Burcke Received a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Brianne Burcke, Financial Planning & Budget, who received a SLU Spark! Brianne was recognized by Libby Gallogly, HR-Consulting and Client Services, for pursuing excellence.

"Brianne is excellent. She does an phenomenal job serving our community by being attentive and responsive to others and paying special care to all the little details. I am so thankful to be working with her on a current project and many to come!"

Ann Meechai Recieved a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Ann Meechai, English as a Second Language, who received a SLU Spark! Ann was nominated by Lisieux Huelman, INTO SLU, for strengthening our community!

"Thank you for being a force of positivity and joy during a difficult transition period. Your patience and understanding have been an excellent example to other members of the program. I appreciate the administrative support you have provided, but the spiritual and emotional support you give the program has been unparalleled. Your attitude, hard work, and work ethic are making this program stronger and more academically rigorous and I'm excited to work with you for the next several years."

Julie Flowers Received a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Julie Flowers, Public Health, who received a SLU Spark! Julie was nominated by Enbal Shacham, Behavioral Science & Health Education, for serving others!

"Julie has worked with me along with many other faculty for many years, creating and managing our budgets. She has an amazing commitment to the work that we do, so much so, that when she was called to serve on jury duty, she continued long hours to ensure that my latest grant budget was completed on time. This is in addition to the consistent work that she does to ensure that we understand how to manage a budget."

Veterans Affinity Group Forming at SLU

SLU employees who are military veterans are being asked to get involved. Please help spread the word to anyone at SLU who might want to get involved.

The Office of Military and Veteran Enrollment Services is also helping to start a Veterans Affinity Group at SLU for all employees at SLU who are military veterans. Military and Veteran Enrollment Services will establish a list serve and send information about upcoming events on campus specific for veterans, like the Veterans Day lunch. Tommy Lucas, a graduate assistant and doctoral candidate, is spearheading much of the activity and occupies the Military and Veterans Enrollment Services Office in DuBourg Hall, Room 15. As a part of this effort, the group would create Bylaws and a structure, but would share similar values with the Student Veterans Association to create an environment that is military friendly, and to continue to serve as men and women for others. The purpose of this group is to meet the needs of veterans at SLU. Lucas said, “It is not uncommon to see affinity groups form at large organizations like Ameren and Purina, or InBev.”

As a part of creating a military friendly culture, the Office of Military and Veteran Enrollment Services hosts a veterans lunch every Friday from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Billiken Grill in the Busch Student Center. All veterans are welcome to come and meet other veterans. Bring your own lunch, or buy your lunch there.

Also, the Office of Military and Veteran Enrollment Services has made aware of military personnel deploying for up to a year with SLU connections. In the effort to support deployed service members, ​plans to work with H.E.R.O.E.S. Care to assemble and ship care packages are underway. Yvonne McCool said, “Mr. Lucas toured H.E.R.O.E.S. Care recently and gathered a list of items that can be shipped.” The group hopes to take up a collection of items, cash for shipping and send care packages from SLU to our military deployed.

When possible, Military and Veteran Enrollment Services would like SLU's deploying military to see SLU on the way out, feel the support of SLU while gone, see SLU when they return. As ​members of the SLU community ​as well as the St. Louis​ metropolitan area​, it would be great to show support for ​soldiers and their families throughout their deployment​ from the community​.

​​If you are interested in supporting these efforts, please ​click here to complete the form being used to identify SLU employees interested in helping form the affinity group. ​Share this information anyone who may be interested so they can complete the Google Form as well. ​The Google Form allows interested members of the SLU community to indicate their desire to be a part of the group, even if not a veteran but may have a family member that is.

For additional information, e-mail Yvonne McCool at ymccoolm@slu.edu or call 314-977-8957. Yvonne served in the Air Force from 1981-1992. She was a personnel technician, and deployed ​to Korea ​in support of ​a joint exercise referred to as ​Team Spirit '​85.

Battle for the Boot 2017 Begins

Start bringing in your shoes and looking for collection boxes and bins; the 2017 Battle for the Boot began January 3, 2017. This year our theme is the “Battle against Water Poverty” and SLU joins Lindenwood University, Washington University, University of Missouri in St. Louis (UMSL), Webster, Fontbonne, and Maryville in a joint effort to collect 15,000 pounds of shoes. SLU has been challenged to collect 7,300 pounds.

“Things are a little different this year,” said Yvonne McCool, the organizer of SLU’s shoe drive. The golden boot has been retired. “But, we are still competing for our internal boot trophies,” McCool said. She continued with a special “thank you” to Manisha Ford-Thomas, Assistant Director, Housing and Residence Life and Brandon Verhoff, Director of Sustainability and Benchmarking, for their role in recruiting the contacts for 11 resident halls. In the past, Fusz Hall was the only resident hall collecting shoes for the shoe drive and the student participation is tremendous.

This year there are 35 collection sites on campus and 2 collection sites off campus. A complete list may be viewed by clicking this link. 

Every year, the Saint Louis University community donates thousands of pounds of shoes to help support efforts to bring clean water to those who thirst. Without each and every person who brings in shoes, places a collection box in their building, helps sort and count shoes, we would not be successful. McCool said, since we began collecting shoes in 2012, the SLU community has donated 30,787 pounds of shoes. “That’s just amazing!” For questions, please contact Yvonne McCool, ymccoolm@slu.edu , or call 314-977-8957.

Ryan Boyer Received a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Ryan Boyer, Flight Instruction, who received a SLU Spark! Ryan was nominated by Jennifer Masiulis, Parks Academic Advising, for pursuing excellence!

"From the Parks Academic Advising Office: Thank you, Ryan, for your amazing and diligent work with our Flight Science students!! You have demonstrated flexibility, care and excellent communication skills while balancing helpfulness and accountability with our students. The communication and teamwork between our units has never been so seamless! Thank you for all of the work you did on the front end and on the back end to help our students in getting scheduled for their flight time. You rock! Sincerely, Jenn, Nancy, Summer & Lisa"

Geralyn Singer Received a SLU Spark!

Congratulations to Geralyn Singer, CSB-Undergraduate Advising Services, who received a SLU Spark! Geralyn was recognized by Jamie Motley, Student Educational Services, for serving others!

"Thanks for providing friendly, professional assistance whenever I have a "quick question" (smile) related to business majors and courses. It's always a breath of fresh air to hear your pleasant voice on the other end of the phone when I call, or to receive your prompt response to an e-mail. I appreciate you so much!!!"