Richard Green, John Scott, John Dunlop, and Sandra Abbey
At an impressive awards luncheon at the Westward Look Resort on August 9, KPNO's Hector Rios won the Outstanding Employee Award for 1999. The award was given by the Southern Arizona Indian Workforce Development Council, and was supplemented by a scholarship from Pima Community College. The Arizona Daily Star subsequently ran a front-page report on Hector and his accomplishments.
The nomination that was submitted for Hector tells the story: When Hector started working for the Observatory, he had little formal training. He was initially hired in 1973 as an entry-level custodian. Over the next few years he worked very hard to increase his skills and knowledge, and was promoted to a lead position in 1978. Hector continued to expand his skills through his own initiative, outside training, and on-the-job training. In 1988 he joined our Mechanical Maintenance group as a Crafts Helper. Here he became involved with the maintenance and improvement projects for the various telescopes and equipment on Kitt Peak. Hector continued to increase his skills in the trades and learned mechanical maintenance, welding, pipe fitting, equipment operations, and so forth. Hector was promoted to a Craftsperson position in 1993 and is now the primary 50-ton overhead crane operator within the 4-meter telescope structure. He is a key member of the mechanical crew and his extensive knowledge of the observatory facility has enhanced the entire crew's abilities.
Hector also serves as a role model for many employees. His pleasant "can-do" attitude enables Hector and his crew to complete varied and challenging projects. He has participated in several major telescope improvement projects during his career. His crane operation skills have been critical to the removal and reinstallation of the 4-meter primary mirror for periodic maintenance.
Hector has an innate ability to get along with all people and treat everyone with respect. He is extremely intelligent, but very humble and modest about this. Hector has a wonderful sense of humor that is never deprecating and always appreciated by his co-workers and supervisors. (Example: The Director decided that the mechanical crew should wear hardhats during the entire summer shutdown. The next day, Hector appeared at work with a cowboy-hat-shaped hardhat, just to add a little style.) Additionally, Hector has been a cattle rancher on the Tohono O'odham Reservation for most of his life and is a respected member of his District.
We are grateful to Hector for his many years of dedicated service to the Observatory, and congratulate him once again for this well-deserved honor.