UWRA is proud to announce that Dick Simkins, who served in various counseling positions at the university for 40 years, was selected as the second recipient of of the UW-UWRA Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service Award and the first staff member to receive this award.

Simkins’ career and dedication to service make him a role model of all of us. After his retirement, Dick volunteered for the Registrar’s Office, where he helped the staff revise the 536-page general catalog.

When the award committee contacted the Office of the Registrar to ask what would have happened to Dick’s projects if he hadn’t been available, the response was, “We simply wouldn’t have done them.” There was no other person who could do what he has done.

In addition to his volunteer work for the Registrar, Dick has also worked with Admissions, the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee and the Honors Program.

His career as a supervisor and mentor in advising created an entire generation of individuals who proudly say, “I learned how to be an adviser from working with Dick Simkins.” His contributions to the UW community will continue to resonate for decades.

When Dick was asked about why he he had become such a tireless volunteer after 40 years at the UW, he said that he simply loves what he does. But it is rare that individuals are able to crystallize their passion in a way that benefits so many, or that their skills are melded with an ethic for service at such a consistently high level.