On any given day, Patricia Anaya may be delivering 150 surgical sutures to a dozen classrooms at the medical school. While coordinating the schedules of some of the hundreds of faculty members who teach there. Before offering a faculty committee her seasoned views on a proposed curriculum change. And calming an upset professor or counseling a distraught student.

"It is difficult to describe exactly what Pat does because it sometimes seems that she does everything," according to LuAnn Wilkerson, senior associate dean for medical education.
Wilkerson's high praise for her assistant director, among many other testimonials, helped seal Anaya's selection for the Chancellor's Excellence in Service Award by UCLA Staff Assembly.

Some 20 of Anaya's colleagues also wrote letters of commendation without her knowledge. "There is no problem that she is unable to solve, no matter how trivial or mundane," someone commented. From another co-worker: "She cares deeply for our medical students, and that has led to a significant change in our curriculum." From a faculty member: "Because she is so committed to the teaching mission of the School of Medicine, I am a better teacher."

When Executive Vice Chancellor Wyatt R. Hume announced at a Faculty Center reception June 4 that Anaya had been chosen from a field of 49 nominees to take home the award and its $5,000 prize, her co-workers rose to their feet and cheered.

"I don't think I do anything particularly wonderful," Anaya said. "But I think I work really hard. And for the people I work with to feel that way about whatever contributions I do make ... that makes me feel really good."

Adding his praise, Hume said, "It's the staff of the university, I have discovered, who are the long-term determinants of the quality of what we do."

Anaya, with 32 years at the medical school, started her UCLA career as an autopsy pathology transcriber. She now supervises a staff of seven at the Center for Educational Development and Research. The center is responsible for the medical education curriculum and assists 3,000 faculty with everything from planning courses to assigning them classrooms.

"I believe very much in the faculty," Anaya said. "They need to prepare their instruction and deliver it. They should not be fretting about classrooms and problems with equipment. We want things to work smoothly."

She puts in many long hours to ensure that is the case. "I can delegate a certain amount, but I need to be involved, hands-on," she said.

Anaya cites her late father as her role model. "He was a wonderful human being," she said. "I've always felt that I wanted to be like him."

She also credits her husband, Ernesto, who trains horses at their ranchette near Whittier, for being supportive. "He's put in his time sorting files," she said.

The school's strong sense of mission motivates her, she added. "This is a great medical school," she said. "It draws you in. The staff here, we all work hard, get along and help each other achieve our goals.

"Everybody's moving in the same direction. It's a good feeling."