On Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, President Jack Ohle released three faculty award winners, and, according to tradition, the employees were honored in chapel on Founder’s Day.

The Eric Norelius Award for Outstanding Administrative Employee was given to Chaplain Rachel Larson. The award is named after the founder of Gustavus Adolphus College and an immigrant from Sweden. The Gustavus Faculty Service Award is designed to honor those whose leadership roles have improved the college.

John Cha, associate professor of religion and Japanese, was the recipient this year as well. The Augusta Carlson Schultz Award for Outstanding Support Staff went to Robert Schlueter, the info systems lead and assistant chef in Dining Services. Schultz was one of the first dining services employees, hired in the 1880s at the age of 16. Schultz’s dedication has kept dining services running smoothly for many years.

“Receiving the Augusta Carlson Schultz Award for the Outstanding Support Staff Employee was [a] huge surprise and honor. To receive this honor out of 700 employees is huge,” Schlueter said.

Prospective recipients are nominated by fellow employees for the awards, and committees are designated to help decide the final winners. The annual recipients are honored during or around Founder’s Day. This year, the ceremony was on Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 during chapel and was followed by a reception in Alumni Hall.

“I want to say a special thank you to the members of the Schultz Award, Norelius Award, and Faculty Service Award selection committees and to the many people who wrote such thoughtful and inspiring letters of nomination on behalf of their co-workers. The wonderful people who work at Gustavus are clearly the College’s greatest resource,” Ohle said in an e-mail to the student body.

Cha echoed Ohle’s statements. “I’m very honored and surprised, because so many people deserve this award,” Cha said, citing his colleagues as a major factor in his successes at Gusavus. “It’s their award, too.”