Class Acts

Pedro E. Borrayo-Alatorre
PEDRO E. BORRAYO-ALATORRE
Distinguished Staff Award

DEPARTMENT: Custodial Services

ON THE JOB: Custodian; 11 years at the UW.

ACHIEVEMENTS: Borrayo-Alatorre treats the Center for Urban Horticulture like his home. Its faculty, staff and students have been touched by him in countless ways. When female students and faculty work late, he walks them to their cars (he has a black belt in karate). If he finds lab equipment running that he knows should be turned off, he will make the extra effort for safety. He is able to clean and reorganize a 200-person meeting room in 15 minutes or help unload the root system of a 20-year-old Douglas fir—in the dark. Borrayo-Alatorre is so well liked by faculty, students and volunteers that when he was almost transferred (which he eventually was not), 21 of his "fans" banded together to give a testimonial and a gift in preparation for his departure. Off the job, he has done search and rescue work in Mexico, volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and collects toys for a Mexican charity.

QUOTE: "In my years at the University of Washington, I have not witnessed a person who matches his attention to detail, his work ethic and his reliability. ... I have yet to witness a situation that Pedro cannot handle."—Urban Horticulture Director Thomas Hinckley


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