Administrative and Support Excellence Awards
The Administrative and Support Excellence Awards were initiated by the Director's Office in 2014 to annually recognize administrative, support, and service staff for demonstrated excellence in support of Lincoln Laboratory's mission.
2026 Administrative Excellence Award Recipients
Sarah M. Bruno
As the Advanced Undersea Systems anf Technology Group's IT lead, Sarah has set a standard of excellence that inspires those around her and strengthens the Laboratory’s ability to deliver on its most demanding work. She expertly leads a team of system administrators to ensure her group has the computing infrastructure required to support the development of complex algorithms. Sarah exemplifies leadership, stepping in on the hardest tasks herself and illustrating to her team what it means to lead through action. Whether she is architecting infrastructure expansions, enabling mission-critical field tests, or leading successful security reviews, Sarah demonstrates unwavering commitment to each mission.
Amy K. Drohan
Amy has made a notable and lasting impact on the Financial Services Department as its operations administrator and assistant business manager. She consistently manages many complex tasks — including overseeing the director’s calendar and coordinating departmental meetings and events — with precision and efficiency. Amy played a foundational role in establishing and shaping the Finance Culture Initiative and helped enhance communication and alignment across her department. Her commitment to clarity and thoughtfulness, coupled with her supportive and approachable demeanor, has fostered a more cohesive, positive, and highly productive work environment.
2025 Support Excellence Award Recipients
Donna L. McFarland
Donna is the circulation expert for Lincoln Laboratory’s research library. She is known for the high quality of service she provides to library visitors and her dedication to improving the library’s collections, services, systems, and procedures. Donna is deeply knowledgeable about the Laboratory’s ever-evolving research needs and areas of interest, using this expertise to fulfill customer requests and keep the library’s collections current and properly maintained. Donna has played a critical role in the maintenance and continued excellence of the research library, an invaluable resource for the Laboratory community.
Margaret S. Savedra
Margaret singlehandedly manages all the administrative tasks necessary to keep Lincoln Laboratory’s Experimental Test Site (ETS) on White Sands Missile Range running smoothly and effectively. Her dedication and resourcefulness are key in a wide range of responsibilities, including product procurement, shipping and receiving, visitor coordination, travel arrangements, and general site scheduling. She has supported many program visits to ETS, often going the extra mile to meet high-priority project schedules. Margaret is essential to ETS, and it is much to her credit that new and important sustaining programs can be supported at the test site.
Past Recipients
Administrative Excellence Award
2025
Christine M. Milliken, in recognition of her outstanding management of business and financial operations for the Homeland Decision Support Systems Group.
Austin Soucy, in recognition for demonstrating exceptional team leadership and commitment to providing special security support for highly impactful Laboratory R&D programs.
2024
Paula J. Bolognese, in recognition for navigating many aspects of operations, including Human Resources, talent acquisition requests, facility needs, purchasing management, new employee technology acquisition/set up, and financial management.
John J. O’Rourke, Jr, in recognition for his technical innovation and expertise on designing, building, and implementing information systems that support field-site radar applications while conforming to information security requirements.
2023
Alicia A. LaDuke, in recognition for her exemplary oversight of critical release review submissions and management of major Laboratory events and outreach programs.
Sengsouriya (Keto) Sysong, in recognition for employing creative technical solutions and effective collaboration to improve the Laboratory’s critical computing infrastructure.
2022
Joseph E. King III, in recognition for leading efforts that significantly improve the Laboratory's collateral classified computing infrastructure.
Pamela Weldon, in recognition for demonstrating excellent leadership and commitment to supporting financial processes at the Laboratory and MIT.
2021: Joseph W. Orender and Kristi H. Wakeham
2020: Marilyn J. Lewis and James B. Lockler
2019: Marie L. Dow and Jason B. Williams
2018: Celeste A. Paquette and David A. Shumsky
2017: Curt Heintz and Irene Oliver
2016: Donna E. Dickerson and Amy S. Grossman
2015: Allison J. MacDonald and John E. Bilodeau
2014: Joseph S. Ciampi and William H. Kindred
Support Excellence Award
2025
Judith A. Straeffer, in recognition of her exemplary administrative support to high-profile Laboratory programs and for her coordination of the Air Force Technical Review Day conferences.
Christine E. Wilson, in recognition of her dedication to supporting the Rapid Prototyping Group’s staff and for leading initiatives to streamline the group’s operations.
2024
Debi A. Corcoran, in recognition of her contributions to the Secure Resilient Systems & Technology Group, where she consistently goes above and beyond to support the group in large and small ways that culminate in her having an enormous positive impact on overall group operations.
John Liddell, in recognition of his 14 years of commitment and service to Lincoln Laboratory to support fabrication of semiconductor devices and his contributions to the growth and success of integrated photonics.
2023
Linda D. Madden, in recognition for her exceptional administrative support to the Counter WMD Systems Group and dedication to fostering a supportive and inclusive work culture.
Brent H. Purington, in recognition for being an exemplar aircraft mechanic in the Flight Test Facility and for going beyond his duties to ensure the success of the Laboratory’s programs.
2022
Will J. Bartlett, in recognition for making critical contributions to the development and transitioning of lifesaving technologies.
Patricia M. Perry, in recognition for consistently going above and beyond to manage the administrative needs of her group, division, and the Laboratory.
2021: Kathleen L. Cable and Steve S. Salsberry
2020: Laurie A. Briere and Robin J. Lucente
2019: Terri L. Welch and John F. Orthmann
2018: Colleen D. Campbell and Kirsten L. Theophelakes
2017: Erin Jones-Ravgiala and Robert McLaren
2016: Anne M. Cappucci and Jon C. Barron
2015: Heather A. Wilcox and Eric P. Carrera
2014: Kenneth L. Burkett and Cynthia J. Wallace