Lynn Heffron receives President's Award for Excellence

Lynn Heffron, a laboratory specialist senior in the Meng Lab of Molecular Virology at VA-MD Vet Med, was named one of four recipients of the 2022 President’s Award for Excellence. Established at Virginia Tech in 1990 by then-President James D. McComas, the annual award recognizes selected full-time staff members for their outstanding contributions and consistently excellent performance at the university.

Heffron, who has worked at Virginia Tech since 2003, was nominated for the award by X.J. Meng, University Distinguished Professor and interim executive director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute.

“As a lab specialist, Lynn displays creative problem-solving ability and has helped countless students and postdocs with their research projects by performing various experiments,” wrote Meng in his letter of nomination. “Since joining the virology lab in 2012, Lynn has co-authored more than 25 scientific publications, including a co-first-author paper. Such a high level of contributions to scholarly activities is rare for a lab specialist. Lynn is an exceptional staff member, and Virginia Tech is so lucky to have such a dedicated and loyal employee.”

Twenty-six employees with a collective 277 years of service to Virginia Tech were nominated for the 2022 President’s Award for Excellence. These employees were recognized at an April 12 ceremony, during which President Tim Sands announced the recipients, each of whom received a letter of commendation, a certificate, and a $2,000 pre-tax award.