Deidre Wood is one of more than 500 housekeepers working in Facilities & Real Estate Services. She’s part of the team responsible for maintaining cleanliness in the college houses and other campus buildings.
Wood began working at Penn in 1997 at the Dental School, then moved to the School of Veterinary Medicine one year later, where she stayed for nearly 15 years.
“I really loved it. From the building manager to the housekeepers, we were all like a family there,” says Wood. “The young ladies were like sisters and the young men were like brothers. We hung out. We met each other’s parents. I felt appreciated, that’s what made me stay.”
For most of Wood’s career, she has cleaned and maintained labs and office spaces. Today, she works mainly in residences such as the New College House. She recently completed the Pipeline for Promise program, a School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) initiative that offers Community College of Philadelphia students a free summer course at SP2.
Wood’s hard work and compassion for her counterparts and Penn’s neighbors earned her a 2018 Pillar of Excellence Award for outstanding weekly-paid staff achievement.
“She is someone who comes in every single day with a positive attitude and a willingness to do not only what she needs to do on a daily basis for her job assignment but whatever comes across her way,” says Wendy Sparks, director of Housekeeping.
Read more at Penn Human Resources.
Nominations for Models of Excellence will be accepted beginning Sept. 4, 2018. Visit www.hr.upenn.edu/models for details.
