OXFORD,
Miss. – Patricia Stewart, safety training specialist for the University
of Mississippi physical plant, has been awarded the 2008 Rex Dillow
Award for Outstanding Article from the Association of Physical Plant
Administrators.
And while nothing seems to surprise Stewart, she
said she was shocked that the article she co-wrote received the
prestigious award. Stewart, a 20-year UM employee, is the first black
woman to win the award.
Stewart, a trained biologist, said she was encouraged to write the article “Pandemic Preparation: Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst” after attending a session about bird flu during a conference at Duke University.
“When I attended the session on the bird flu, I found out that the majority of college campuses and other organizations around the country had no plan in the event of an outbreak,” said Stewart, a native of Macon.
Stewart co-authored the article with Kate VanSant, a colleague she met at Duke.
“We had never met before the conference at Duke. We communicated mainly through e-mail, but still managed to write an amazing article,” Stewart said.
The article originally appeared in the November/December 2007 issue of Facilities Manager magazine, the official publication of APPA.
Stewart said the overall experience of writing the article was a challenge but very exciting. She plans to write a follow-up story by year-end.