Technology leaders throughout United States celebrate career of Utah innovator with highest honor
SEATTLE, Wash. (March 9, 2022) – The Quilt, a consortium of regional Research and Education (R&E) networks in the United States, today announced that Jim Stewart, Chief Technology Officer at the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN), has received this year’s Dave Reese Distinguished Service Award.
The Dave Reese Distinguished Service Award was created to honor individuals who have provided extraordinary leadership, support, and service to The Quilt community and its stakeholders. The award is named in honor of Dave Reese (1958-2019), who was a founding member of The Quilt and served in a number of leadership roles for the organization including chairman of the board and treasurer.
“This award recognizes individuals who appreciate the diverse set of organizations that comprise The Quilt membership, embody the belief that collaboration makes the whole cloth of The Quilt stronger, and dedicate their time to supporting initiatives that broadly impact member organizations,” said Jen Leasure, president and CEO of The Quilt. “Jim’s contributions to The Quilt over many years have been invaluable and so are his contributions to the broader R&E networking community.”
Stewart has more than 40 years of experience working in the technology profession and has been working the past 22 years to support technology for all higher education, public schools, and health care organizations in the State of Utah. He also has served on The Quilt Board of Directors for more than two decades.
“Jim embodies the spirit of this award,” commented David C. Marble, president and CEO of OSHEAN in Rhode Island and member of The Quilt Board of Directors. “He has been selfless in his constant availability to help with so many activities, engaging with expertise, support resources and a wonderful sense of humor.”
This award was first introduced last year with technology pioneer Marla Meehl as the inaugural recipient.
“I was incredibly honored and feel privileged to be the inaugural awardee for The Dave Reese Distinguished Service Award,” said Meehl. “Dave was such a wonderful friend, colleague and mentor for me. It is very meaningful to me that Jim Stewart is being awarded this year, since Jim is also my great friend, colleague and mentor, and Jim is such an influential, passionate, and committed leader in our community.”
Stewart received this recognition at the virtual Quilt 2022 Winter Member Meeting this week (March 8-10).
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About The Quilt
The Quilt is the national coalition of advanced regional networks for research and education, representing 38 networks across the country. Participants in The Quilt provide advanced network services and applications to more than 900 universities and tens of thousands of other educational institutions throughout the United States. Visit www.thequilt.net and follow at Twitter @TweetTheQuilt.