Because Andy Edwards’ role in Information Technology put him in close proximity to faculty, staff, and me, it is my pleasure to write a word of thanks for his more than ten years of service. Three words leap to mind when I think of him: Everybody. Loves. Andy. He is unflappable and calm, positive and generous, smart and funny. Andy began in IT as a student worker and made his way up the ranks. He supported the Help Desk and Schoology, the two areas where student learning and IT come to close contact, and without which many teaching and learning functions could not happen.

 

 

Andy was also among the most reliable colleagues to whom we turned in emergencies. Did you ever wonder who got up at 5 a.m. to put a notice on the Web site that the School had to close due to snow? That was Andy, until Andy taught me how… and then it was still often Andy, when I had trouble figuring the system out. When the School had to replace the entire online learning platform on short-notice, moving into a system that required serious heavy-lifting on the IT side every semester: that was Andy too. 

 

That Andy Edwards serves our nation as a member of the US Army Reserves, always ready for deployment while also raising a family and serving his School, does not surprise anyone who has worked with him. While serving in the historic 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiment, Andy was a responder to the Boston Marathon bombing.

 

For all this, Andy: thank you.

 

by: Sarah B. Drummond