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May 24, 2005

Tony Lenhard, the 2005 UEC Community Service Award Recipient

This year, the NSLS Users' Executive Committee (UEC) to presented the UEC Community Service Award to Tony Lenhard, Senior Technical Supervisor, NSLS User Science Division. The award is given for service, innovation, and dedication to NSLS users, and Tony is well deserving of that honor.

Tony Lenhard

As a tribute to nearly 25 years of dedicated support for NSLS experimenters and beamlines, members of the NSLS user community nominated Tony Lenhard for this year's award. Tony has demonstrated an uncommon dedication to improving the experimental setups at the NSLS. Here are quotes and paraphrased comments from some of the users who nominated Tony:

  • Tony has supervised the Beamline Development and Support group that has been central to the construction, upgrade, and maintenance of all of the User Science Division beamlines: x-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared, including the insertion devices.


  • As supervisor of that group, his superior traits have set the standard and inspired all of the NSLS User Science Division technical staff to excellence.


  • "Tony is always ready to advise on the mechanical design of users' experimental apparatus, even under acute time pressure."


  • "Tony is a treasure house of technical knowledge and skill in setting up beamlines and experiments. He has had a huge impact on the user community, based on his supervision of the technical work on every one of the NSLS-operated beamlines. Since many of the PRT beamlines look to the NSLS-constructed beamlines for technical guidance, Tony's mark is probably on every single beamline at the NSLS."


  • Many of the people who wrote in support of his nomination made particular mention of his special talent for coming up with a simple solution to a mechanical problem, often quite different from what the experimenter initially visualized.


  • "I don't believe the community properly appreciates his contributions to the many experiments that otherwise would have been delayed."


  • Tony is patient and unflappable to a remarkable degree, especially considering the excited state that experimenters are often in when facing technical difficulties at the start of an experiment.


    • NSLS UEC Vice Chair Peter Stephens presents the 2005 UEC Community Service Award to Tony Lenhard at the Users' Meeting banquet.

  • "Tony may be one of the most underappreciated treasures in the NSLS. He is often on the spot when users arrive and he has to make some quick modifications to equipment to allow them to complete an experiment."


  • "Tony plays a crucial role in assisting NSLS users while they are performing experiments. Every user facility needs a person like Tony: someone who knows how to build or modify any mechanical part in a short amount of time, and someone who is kind enough to help guide experimenters in the right direction."


  • Tony has served the NSLS User Community in the ways described above for essentially the entire life of the NSLS. Ironically, many of the users whose experiments run well have never even met him. It is time for him to be recognized for this service via this Community Service Award.

Peter Stephens, vice chair of the UEC, presented the award to Tony at the NSLS Users' Meeting banquet on the evening of Tuesday, May 24th. Tony received a $250 gift certificate and his name was engraved on the plaque on display in the NSLS lobby. Congratulations Tony, and thanks for a job well done!

ARTICLE BY: Peter Stephens

PHOTO BY: Roger Stoutenburgh