Brooke Gleason, post-award grant administrator in the School of Health Professions Dean’s Office, is 1 of 4 chosen as the fourth-quarter 2023 honorees for the UAB Shared Values in Action Program.
The UAB VIP Awards honor employees whose work exemplifies and embodies one or more of the university’s shared values — integrity, stewardship, collaboration, accountability, respect, excellence and achievement, and diversity and inclusiveness. VIP honorees have made a lasting impact on the fabric and culture of UAB by exemplifying the university’s shared values.
A desire to excel was one of the first things colleagues noticed about Brooke Gleason when the post-award grant administrator joined the School of Health Professions.
“Only weeks into the job she told me she had pulled every notice of grant award for the department’s active grants and read them thoroughly,” recalled Grants Administrator Jill Meredith, adding that Gleason’s reviews of SHP awards often find details that others have overlooked. “It is rare to find someone who will take that type of initiative in a new role, so I knew then that Brooke was special.”
Gleason consistently goes above and beyond to make her colleagues’ jobs easier, adds Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., R.D., professor and Webb Endowed Chair of Nutrition Sciences.
“Brooke makes it her business to know every single grant deadline and prompts me in advance — often preemptively filling out much of the paperwork, making it so much easier,” Demark-Wahnefried said. “She stays on top of every single detail and makes sure that each budget is optimized.”
Collaboration is a high priority for Gleason. In addition to guiding colleagues through the complicated business of using and keeping a grant once it has been awarded, Gleason is also a willing collaborator outside of her job description when her team is in need.
“She has become so familiar with Nutrition Sciences that she is often able to assist with tasks outside of her purview while they are without a Business Officer,” said Meredith. “She is willing to step in and help with whatever needs to be done.”
Gleason has demonstrated a commitment to improvement, as she was part of the first cohort of UAB's Developing Emerging Administrative Leaders (DEAL), a program that takes a multidisciplinary approach to expose promising UAB staff members to the essential components of administrative and management positions across the university.
Justin Daigneault, Financial Officer III in the School of Health Professions, who served as interim executive director in the Dean’s Office when the key position was vacated, described Gleason as a valuable resource to Nutrition Sciences faculty and staff, making his own workload more manageable.
“If she had not shown this spirit of collaboration and dedication to excellence, the Department of Nutrition Sciences and the Dean’s Office administration would have suffered significantly,” Daigneault said. He added that he constantly hears praise for Gleason’s “work, work ethic and willingness to help.”
This reputation is not limited to the School of Health Professions, said Barbara Gower, Ph.D., professor and interim chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences.
“I frequently receive glowing comments concerning Brooke from other faculty in our department,” Gower said. “She has been a joy to work with. She has enhanced our school’s research enterprise, and she is a valued colleague and friend.”
Three of the four UAB VIP Award winners this quarter have ties to the School of Health Professions. Gleason is one of two SHP staff members to earn the honor this quarter. Amanda Sherman, director of alumni engagement for the school, is the other winner from our staff. And Whitney Covington, a clinical research coordination manager for the Department of Emergency Medicine, is an alumna of our B.S. in Medical Technology program, what is today known as Medical Laboratory Sciences.
