[community] Pat Murray retires from the IDRC

[Neher, Iris]

On behalf of Jutta Treviranus

Dear colleagues,

Since 2001, Pat Murray has been the Inclusive Design Research Centre’s (IDRC) administrative assistant for both our SNOW project and our Vision Technology Assistive Devices Program services. More importantly, she has been the face of the IDRC to much of OCADU and many of our visitors.

In addition to what is official and documented, Pat has provided a large set of invaluable knowledge and skills. These are the undocumented assets not recognized in any degree, not offered in any course, or included in any job description.  Institutions are complex places with unwritten and unspoken rules, procedures, policies and etiquettes; and government programs such as the ADP can be densely confusing things. People have official and implicit roles and responsibilities. Pat is the keeper of this knowledge in the IDRC. Our move to OCADU involved the merger of two cultures. Pat took on the role of bridge and diplomat for all the fundamental functions that make a place run. She has acted as our translator of processes and navigator of institutional complexity. She is our “logistics queen.”

Pat accomplished things like feeding a crowd on a budget that would cover less than a handful; planning in a few weeks an event that should take years; arranging impossible to book accessibility services at a moment’s notice; and single-handedly managing logistics that would generally take an entire team.

Pat’s retirement will leave a huge gap in our team and in our community. Pat knows that once you are a member of our community, you are always a valued member. We wish her well in her retirement and hope to see her often in many years to come.

https://www2.ocadu.ca/news/pat-murray-retires-from-the-idrc

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IRIS NEHER
MANAGER, IDRC

T: 416 977 6000 x3951
F: 416 977 9844
E: ineher at ocadu.ca<mailto:ineher at ocad.ca>

OCAD UNIVERSITY
Inclusive Design Research Centre
205 Richmond Street W, Toronto, ON, M5V 1V3
www.ocadu.ca<http://www.ocadu.ca/>
www.idrc.ocad.ca<http://www.idrc.ocad.ca/>