Lee Keating receives 2014 Infinite Mile Award

Paul Rivenberg  |  PSFC

May 15, 2014

PSFC Fiscal Officer Lee Keating has received an Infinite Mile Awards from the Offices of the Provost and the Vice President for Research, and the Dean of Graduate Education. The Infinite Mile Award recognizes those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions within their own organizations to help ensure that the Institute carries out its mission, i.e., to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. A testimonial to her hard work, taken from the Infinite Mile Awards website, sums up her recent invaluable contributions: "Lee is a top-notch Fiscal Officer for this world-class research facility, overseeing the financial management of millions of dollars in annual funding from multiple federal and private research grants, primarily the 26 million dollar Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor project. Lee's considerable fiscal and technical expertise, keen desire to master new technologies, eagerness to take on additional responsibility, and decisive approach to challenges were especially put to the test over the past two years. With the Alcator C-Mod program slated for shutdown, the potentially enormous loss in federal funding for this very important research project meant that multiple scenarios, sometimes changing daily, were generated to give leadership accurate fiscal information. During the long, stressful wait, Lee prepared budget after budget, with the goal of protecting as many staff as possible until Congress gave definitive word. Lee is credited for providing an invaluable service by getting the Research Division through the uncertainty. With her capable management of expenses, swift responsiveness, and willingness to take on the work of multiple new proposals, Lee has been going the extra mile for MIT for nearly two decades, and the past two years have only shown her talents more brightly."