Ruth Dudas wins USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Staff Achievement

Ruth Dudas, Contracts and Grants Coordinator for the USC Sea Grant Program, recently won the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Staff Achievement. Ruth has been with the University for over 20 years and, during that time, has become an exemplar of staff achievement.

Ruth works closely with NOAA and National Sea Grant funding administrators to ensure that Sea Grant’s submissions for annual and special initiative funding work smoothly within USC’s fiscal processes. She has made sure that she maintains effective relationships with agency fiscal leads at different agencies, both federal and state, which provide funding to Sea Grant.

This is not an easy task, as requirements often differ, and Ruth has often needed to serve as the interface between those agencies and University sponsored project representatives. The same is true for research funding that Sea Grant provides at the other universities in the State.

Ruth provides exemplary service to Sea Grant staff at USC in all tasks. She has a proactive approach to her work and consistently goes above and beyond her duties by anticipating the needs of our department and addressing them before they become issues. This forward-thinking approach not only saves valuable time and resources but also ensures that our projects and grants progress smoothly and efficiently. She routinely assists with budgeting for extramural funds, manages staff travel, coordinates hiring paperwork, manages reimbursement requests, and provides general office management.

“Ruth always interacts with professionalism and patience. She has a large amount of work to conduct with many timelines yet manages to be good-natured in our interactions and plans ahead so we aren’t rushing last minute,” expresses Jay Wollenhaupt, Deputy Director of Departmental Operations for USC Dornsife. “Ruth stays on top of the various requirements for Sea Grant funding and is very helpful when needing to integrate these with USC policies and procedures.   Ruth has been just great to work with.”

These are descriptions of only some of Ruth’s duties at Sea Grant. She is an everyday, most reliable, and very trusted member of the USC Sea Grant staff. No matter the moving targets grants administration sometimes presents, she does this without complaint about time constraints, tight schedules, and due dates at the Federal and State levels. This is daunting to many of us, but we can rely on Ruth to maintain our schedule, anticipate our needs, and guide staff through myriad submission and reporting structures.

“Her invaluable contributions extend far beyond her official role, and she has proven to be an indispensable and good-humored asset to our team,” said Karla Heidelberg, Director of USC Sea Grant.

Ruth meticulously manages grant-related documentation and consistently delivers high-quality results. Her attention to detail and unwavering commitment to excellence have greatly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. Her dedication, positivity, and ability to anticipate and fulfill our department’s needs make her a truly exemplary Contracts and Grants Specialist for the USC Sea Grant Program.

We are so grateful for Ruth and congratulate her on this more-than-deserved award!