{"648583":{"#nid":"648583","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The ANAK Society\u0027s Annual Award Honors Leaders at Tech Making a Change","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe question of what the ANAK Society is has lingered since the group\u0026rsquo;s inception in 1908. The society\u0026rsquo;s membership process is a secret, and its \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/anak.gtorg.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E offers minimal information. (Fun fact: new members used to find out they\u0026rsquo;d been selected by a tap on the shoulder during interfraternity council dances.)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat is clear is that campus involvement and leadership skills are crucial to becoming a member. The ANAK Society\u0026rsquo;s activities and members are hard to pin down, but every year, the ANAK Award is presented at the Faculty and Staff Honors Celebration to honor a faculty member who has demonstrated \u0026ldquo;outstanding service to the Institute and to the student body.\u0026rdquo; ANAK members vote on who to give the award to, and, starting this year, staff members will also be honored. Sidartha Rakuram, former ANAK president, talked about this year\u0026rsquo;s ANAK Award and the decision behind naming Dr. Jennifer Hirsch and Dr. Benjamin Holton as this year\u0026rsquo;s winners.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth were honored at this year\u0026rsquo;s virtual \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/specialevents.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff-honors\u0022\u003EFaculty and Staff Honors Celebration\u003C\/a\u003E in April. When asked about picking Hirsch as a recipient, Rakuram explained, \u0026quot;She has been an amazing leader at the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain in the Office of Undergraduate Education.\u0026quot; Hirsch established the SLS Affiliated Courses Program and, under her leadership the past six years, the number of SLS affiliated courses has grown significantly. She is also a founding leader of the sustainability education network RCE Greater Atlanta, officially acknowledged by the United Nations University \u0026ndash; one of more than 175 Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development across the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis year, SLS was part of the Racial Injustice and Sexual Violence collective, which advances the United Nations\u0026rsquo; Sustainable Development Goal of Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The collective aims to develop a plan to address issues of inequality and accountability for racial injustice and sexual violence on campus by identifying \u0026ldquo;gaps, systemic barriers, and areas for improvement that may exist within our institution due to policies, practices, and other norms.\u0026rdquo; In Rakuram\u0026rsquo;s words, Hirsch has \u0026ldquo;pushed Georgia Tech forward in many ways and is an inspiration to the many students who work with her.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen asked about the inaugural staff recipient, Rarkuram said, \u0026ldquo;Dr. Holton\u0026rsquo;s impact this past year has been undeniable and his patience and empathy while working with students, faculty, staff, and parents has been clear to all of us.\u0026rdquo; Dr. Holton has played a key role in coordinating Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Covid-19 response. His leadership has been vital in rolling out Tech\u0026rsquo;s Covid-19 policies and protocols, as well as the Institute\u0026rsquo;s surveillance testing and vaccination programs. \u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is safer and healthier because of him and his team at Stamps Health Services,\u0026quot; Rakuram said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information on the ANAK Award, visit the ANAK Society\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/anak.gtorg.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis year, the ANAK Award was presented at the Faculty and Staff Honors Celebration to honor a faculty member and a\u0026nbsp; staff member who have demonstrated \u0026ldquo;outstanding service to the Institute and to the student body.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This year, the ANAK Award was presented at the Faculty and Staff Honors Celebration to honor a faculty member and a  staff member who have demonstrated \u201coutstanding service to the Institute and to the student body.\u201d"}],"uid":"35678","created_gmt":"2021-07-07 00:28:03","changed_gmt":"2021-07-08 18:49:26","author":"vvargas30","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648586":{"id":"648586","type":"image","title":"ANAK Award 2021 recipient: Dr. Holton","body":null,"created":"1625618204","gmt_created":"2021-07-07 00:36:44","changed":"1625618261","gmt_changed":"2021-07-07 00:37:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246210","name":"ANAK-2021-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":449358,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ANAK-2021-002.jpg?itok=PaYAd-eW"}},"648584":{"id":"648584","type":"image","title":"2021 ANAK Award recipients (Dr. Holton, Dr. Hirsch)","body":null,"created":"1625617816","gmt_created":"2021-07-07 00:30:16","changed":"1625617816","gmt_changed":"2021-07-07 00:30:16","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246208","name":"ANAK-2021-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":480084,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ANAK-2021-004.jpg?itok=1h3jIzZi"}},"648585":{"id":"648585","type":"image","title":"ANAK Award 2021 recipient: Dr. Hirsch ","body":null,"created":"1625618077","gmt_created":"2021-07-07 00:34:37","changed":"1625618248","gmt_changed":"2021-07-07 00:37:28","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246209","name":"ANAK-2021-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ANAK-2021-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":425960,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ANAK-2021-001.jpg?itok=g8GmZPZN"}}},"media_ids":["648586","648584","648585"],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188221","name":"ANAK Society"},{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"167018","name":"staff"},{"id":"101","name":"Award"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVanesa Vargas\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stucomm@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}