By Laura Fenton

Brigitte Boyd

Many campus runarounds end at the desk of Brigitte Boyd. If she isn’t the right person to answer someone’s question, she will look up the correct person, provide his or her number to the caller and then transfer the call. Sometimes she even walks students to the correct office.

“In order to provide good customer service, you have to be able to want to take that extra step,” said Boyd, financial services associate for the Department of Earth Sciences.

Before transferring to her current job a few months ago, Boyd spent four years with the accounts payable office and seven years with the U of M Foundation.

It is her time with the U of M Foundation that earned her the Distinguished Employee of the Year Award or 2011. The award acknowledges employees with a superior dedication to the success of the U of M.

“She is always energetic, patient and willing to ‘go that extra mile’ to help everyone,” said a nominator.

Boyd’s kindness and patience extend to co-workers as well.

“I can remember before the Banner system was introduced how hard it was for me to understand the [U of M] Foundation’s system of keeping records,” Karen Bradley of the history department said. “Brigitte always answered my questions and explained away my dilemmas. I know there were times when I asked the same questions only a month or two later, but you would never know from her response.”

The nomination came as a surprise to Boyd, who didn’t think she was going to win. She didn’t even invite her family to the awards ceremony in June, despite emails and reminders to do so.

“It was a shock to me when I won, but it was a disappointment because I [didn’t] have any family here to share this moment with me,” she said.

To share the experience with her family, Boyd invited them out to dinner one evening.

“Everyone was excited when I pulled out my award,” she said.

Working for the U of M has been such a pleasure that Boyd may stay long enough to retire from the University.

“It’s a great community here,” Boyd said. “I’ve always loved my job and I’ve always looked for a challenge, something to enhance my career and help me move forward. That’s something I’ve had an opportunity to do while I’ve been here.”

Plus, Boyd’s 7th-grade daughter, Bree Lyons, dreams of attending the U of M.

“I’m sure after that, I’ll keep hanging around,” Boyd said. “They’ll be a reason for me to stay after 20 years, and then 30 years.”