Brenda Spychalla, a distinguished information processing consultant emerita for the School of Education’s MERIT, is one of 11 UW–Madison employees who are recipients of this year’s Academic Staff Excellence Awards.
Spychalla, who before her retirement in 2021 was the co-director of MERIT and the co-chief information officer for the School of Education, will receive the Ann Wallace Career Achievement Award. The award recognizes a retiring academic staff member who has provided leadership on behalf of academic staff across the campus and in addition has had a distinguished career.
“Before Brenda Spychalla tackled the problem, information technology at the School of Education was decentralized and hard to navigate. By 2008, she and colleague Jo Ann Carr had developed MERIT, a merged media, library, and IT unit that is now a model for campus and beyond,” notes the campus-wide announcement of the 2022 award winners.
The announcement adds: “MERIT is just one example of Spychalla’s knack for problem solving and relationship building. During a stellar 27-year career, she delivered high-quality IT services to the School of Education while contributing to numerous campus committees, policy initiatives, and shared governance activities, often as a leader.”
“Her legendary efforts at building community, especially among women in IT, include the co-creation and collaborative leadership of UW–Women in IT and UW–IT Connects and similar work in the Big Ten and globally.”
Read more about Spychalla and all of the recipients of the 2022 Academic Staff Excellence Awards.