University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel has awarded School of Public Health (SPH) Lecturer Marta Shore the 2023 President’s Award for Outstanding Service, one of the highest honors the U of M bestows on its faculty and staff.

In a letter announcing the award, President Gabel said Shore’s “excellence is a model for your colleagues and co-workers to emulate. True to the mission of this great land-grant institution, you have done more than your share to make the University of Minnesota one of the preeminent institutions in the nation.”

Shore is a member of the teaching faculty in SPH’s Division of Biostatistics & Health Data Science. She is particularly interested in helping students understand statistical concepts and analyses regardless of their mathematical background. She is also a creative project leader who has been instrumental in several recent initiatives within the Division of Biostatistics & Health Data Science, including:

• Establishing a partnership with Saint Paul Public Schools to advance data science literacy among high school students and help illustrate biostatistics as a career path.
• Forging a partnership with Coon Rapids High School to allow biostatistics and epidemiology graduate students to mentor high school seniors on a biomedical research capstone project.
• Organizing an internship program through a partnership with Girls, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports young women in pursuing STEM careers.

Shore also serves as a mental health advocate in the Division of Biostatistics & Health Data Science. In this voluntary role, which Shore proactively sought out, she connects students in the division with appropriate mental health resources on campus — an especially critical need during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a letter nominating Shore for the award, Biostatistics Division Head Joseph Koopmeiners summed up her many accomplishments and contributions: “Ms. Shore has made outstanding contributions to the University and local communities through her support for our students’ mental health, her steadfast support of diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism, and through her outreach with local public school districts.”

The University of Minnesota President’s Award for Outstanding Service was established in 1997 to recognize faculty and staff (current or retired) who have provided exceptional service to the University, its schools, colleges, departments, and service units. Such service must have gone well beyond the regular duties of a faculty or staff member, and demonstrate unusual commitment to the University community.