Staff News

Newsletter of the Department of Electrical Engineering

Staff News

Three New Staff Members Join Department

Ms. Robyn Isom, Administrative Assistant II
Ms. Robyn Isom joined the department as an Administrative Assistant II in the undergraduate office.

Ms. Isom is the first to work in this newly-created position. She provides a broad range of support to the Undergraduate Office Supervisor, Associate Chair, and Academic Coordinator.

Her responsibilities include helping to manage the undergraduate office, responding to student, faculty and staff inquiries, and assisting in the overall supervision of the undergraduate office.

Ms. Julie O’Donnell, Account Clerk II
Ms. Julie O’Donnell joined the department’s staff as an Account Clerk II.
Born and raised in Beltsville, Md., Ms. O’Donnell joined the department from the Washington, D.C. office of Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she served in the internal accounting department. She has also worked for the Pulte Home Corporation, where she was an assistant in the sales division.

O’Donnell’s responsibilities as Account Clerk include handling purchase orders, travel, invoice approvals, and disbursing payroll for the department.

Ms. Karen Thornton, Coordinator for Personnel and Research
Ms. Karen S. Thornton joined the department as Coordinator for Personnel and Research, replacing Barbara Aycock, who retired. She will handle personnel issues within the department and will act as an ambassador for external relations.

Before joining the department, Ms. Thornton spent more than 20 years as a performing musician and 11 years on the faculty at Towson State University. She has held numerous orchestral positions, had a busy solo career, and was a Fulbright Scholar in London. In 1996, Thornton shifted her energies–and her career focus–to the R.H. Smith School of Business and Management, and earned an MBA in May, 1998. She also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Florida State University.

Thornton’s new career is focused on human resources. She spent the past year working in the Corporate Human Resources Department of a British-owned engineering firm. She also spent time volunteering for the Alternative Dispute Resolution program at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Ms. Barbara Aycock Retires

Ms. Barbara Aycock retired from the university on March 1, after 28 years of dedicated service to the department.

Ms. Aycock was the Personnel and Research Coordinator for the department, facilitating many of the department’s human resources and research activities.

“Barbara played a key role in many important activities of the department,” said Nariman Farvardin, professor and chair, “and has gone beyond the call of duty to help initiate new activities and improve the quality of existing programs in the department. We are grateful to her for the contributions she has made to our department and the university, and for the friendship she has given to all of us. She will surely be missed.”