Meet the 2020 Brookhaven Award Honorees
July 26, 2021
Brookhaven Awards are given to recognize key contributors in support functions whose performance and achievements represent outstanding service to the Laboratory. The 2020 recipients are:
Peter Genzer, Stakeholder Relations Office
Whether communicating about Brookhaven Lab's science, operations, safety, inclusion efforts, or any of the many topics he may face in a day, Peter Genzer is the go-to communications expert for Brookhaven Lab leaders and staff.
In his 25th year at the Lab, Genzer continues to communicate complex information and sensitive topics with tact and finesse. He empathizes with his audiences and strategizes how to deliver difficult messages. He is a trusted advisor, strategist, writer, editor, and listener.
Genzer has been involved in nearly every effort and issue the Lab has faced in a decade or more, keeping staff and stakeholders informed along the way.
His unwavering commitment to informative, transparent messages was especially on display throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with countless hours spent strategizing and wordsmithing Lab-wide communications.
Year after year, the Department of Energy’s Public Affairs recognizes the Media & Communications Office that Genzer leads as the smallest yet most productive and effective communications team among all the Office of Science Labs.
Glenn Jochen, Superconducting Magnet Division
Glenn Jochen’s value as a highly skilled mechanical technician on superconducting magnets is recognized at Brookhaven and beyond.
In 42 years at Brookhaven, Jochen developed, debugged, and constructed superconducting magnets and coils essential to the Lab’s accelerators and the physics community at large.
His supervision and know-how ensured the construction of magnets for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). He also contributed to projects such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and its high-luminosity upgrade effort, and various new high temperature superconductor R&D efforts.
Beyond the respect Jochen earns Brookhaven within the physics world, his decades of successful projects since the days of the ISABELLE project and Superconducting Supercollider helped secure major funding for RHIC and the Lab’s roles in LHC projects.
As superconductor technology advances, Jochen’s feedback is often key in making the final call on whether new coil designs will be successfully made and used.
Ken Koebel, Business Services Directorate
Ken Koebel played an integral part in helping the Lab deliver on its evolving vision and mission. He was a primary contributor to the Advanced Technology Research Office's business plan, which included melding the Instrumentation Division, Magnet Division, and Accelerator Test Facility accelerator projects into one wholistic entity to support sponsors, including all six U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science programs, National Nuclear Security Administration, ARPA-E, NASA, and other strategic partnership projects, and DOE's Office of Engineering and Technology.
Koebel provided outstanding support during the effort to consolidate the Energy Science & Technology and Photon Sciences directorates into one entity—the new Energy & Photon Sciences Directorate—for a more efficient team.
His contributions have helped the Lab achieve an A- PEMP score in the Financial Management/Business Systems category for four years. This is unprecedented among DOE Office of Science business services organizations supporting Management and Operating contracts.
Susan McKeon, Business Services Directorate
Susan McKeon significantly improved Business Services' support model for the Nuclear & Particle Physics (NPP) Directorate from 2018 to present. Her work is critical to meet key financial requirements for the Lab to transition from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to the Electron Ion Collider project.
McKeon oversaw the Instrumentation Division's transition from NPP to a separate organization. All of this business support required close coordination with senior managers across NPP and the Lab. She also assisted the Facilities & Operations Directorate's transition from four facility complexes to two, which required extensive planning for hundreds of staff shifting into new organizations, budgets, reporting units, and future forecasts.
McKeon consistently delivers. She is recognized for her technical skills, professionalism, performance, and working well with all. She has provided outstanding customer service and distinguished contributions for 30 years.
Stasia Scocca of the Planning, Performance & Quality Management Office
Since 2002, Stasia Scocca has been a leader for continuous improvement and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the Lab.
Scocca contributed to the Lab’s Standards-Based Management System and was an integral part of the Competitiveness Improvement Project Office where she helped train Lab staff on Lean/Six Sigma principles and led or facilitated critical reviews of the Lab’s visa, experimental safety review, and lock-out/tag-out processes.
In the Office of Institutional Improvement, Scocca led development of the Proposal Information Management System (PIMS), which determines proposal risk, engages subject matter experts, and generates documentation. The development of PIMS included significant outreach to the scientific community to minimize redundant data entry, streamline approvals, and provide important data to support the Lab’s growth agenda. The Department of Energy identified PIMS as a model best practice.
As a long-term member of the Americans with Disabilities Act Committee, she advocates for accommodations such as ramps, convenient parking spaces, and automatic door openers. She has worked with Lab engineers and the DEI Office to make the Lab more accessible.
Scocca helped develop the Lab’s DEI Strategic Plan and serves on DEI committees for the Director’s Office and Energy & Photon Sciences Directorate.
2021-19026 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
