This month’s honorees are (from left) Phoebe Waltman, enrollment specialist in the Office of Admissions; John Bryant, technology and event manager for Event Services; and Jaleh Fazelian, associate dean of University Libraries. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and her cabinet continue to recognize the exemplary efforts of staff and faculty members from across campus by bestowing the UMSL Hero Award on up to three individuals each month.

This month’s honorees are Phoebe Waltman, enrollment specialist in the Office of Admissions; John Bryant, technology and event manager for Event Services; and Jaleh Fazelian, associate dean of University Libraries.

Phoebe Waltman

In eighth grade, Waltman was tasked with a research project about a university of her choosing. Naturally, Waltman selected UMSL, her mother’s alma mater. The report was the first hint that she would eventually become a Triton, but a visit to campus solidified her decision.

“It was always in the back of my head that that’s where I wanted to go,” she said. “Of course, my parents made me look at other colleges, and I toured a few others on the East Coast. But when I toured UMSL, I remember telling my parents, ‘This is where I’m gonna go.’ It just felt like home.”

St. Louis is one of many places Waltman called home growing up. Her parents are both from north St. Louis County, but her father’s job in the United States Navy took the family across the country when she was younger. Waltman graduated high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but she jumped at the chance to attend college near extended family.

At UMSL, Waltman majored in history and minored in art history and French. Beginning in elementary school, she had a keen interest in Greek mythology, and her time in Virginia fostered a fascination with American Revolutionary history. Through an independent study with Teaching Professor Maureen Quigley, she also explored her curiosity in Renaissance art.

Outside of the classroom, Waltman worked as a tour guide on campus. Initially, she took the position to improve her public speaking skills, but the experience also versed her in the ins and outs of the admissions process.

“We did tours on campus, but we also worked the front desk of admissions,” she said. “So over the years, I got to see how admissions worked, and I had grown to really like the energy of the office. When it was time to graduate, I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m ready to leave UMSL.’”

After graduating in 2022, Waltman began a full-time role as an enrollment specialist in the Office of Admissions. She’s responsible for processing prospective students’ applications, reviewing transcripts and calculating GPAs. Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment Reggie Hill noted that Waltman’s day-to-day work is a crucial first step in welcoming new members of the UMSL community.

“Phoebe plays a critical behind-the-scenes role in ensuring that students’ journeys to UMSL begin with a seamless and supportive admissions experience,” Hill wrote in his nomination. “Through her meticulous work in processing applications and credentials, she demonstrates an exceptional commitment to accuracy, efficiency and timeliness – qualities that directly impact students, families and the entire admissions team.

“Her dedication goes far beyond technical expertise. Phoebe approaches her work with patience, compassion and a genuine desire to help students achieve their goals. By ensuring that every file is processed carefully and every credential is verified, she removes barriers that could otherwise delay or discourage a student’s enrollment. Her efforts provide the foundation that allows the admissions team to move forward with confidence and clarity.”

Waltman is always thrilled to see the results of that work at the start of each academic year.

“I really love when fall orientation comes around in August,” she said. “Everyone in admissions is setting up for that, helping out with the front desk or passing out student check-in bags. It’s fun to see all the students on campus and nice to think, ‘Oh, I was part of their process to be here now.’”

John Bryant

Bryant has operated behind the scenes for most of his professional life, ensuring others have what they need to take center stage. So, he was a bit shocked to be in the spotlight after winning the UMSL Hero Award.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I’m a backstage theater person by trade, and I’m used to being in the background – the unseen part of productions and events.”

As an undergraduate at Maryville University, Bryant studied communication and psychology, and he went on to earn a master’s in public relations at Webster University. While working toward his degrees, Bryant also continued to fulfill his passion for live performance and theater. He first started working backstage on productions in high school and became involved in community theater in college.

“I was a marching band and theater guy in high school,” he said. “I’m not one for public attention myself, so I’m not going to seek out the spotlight. Besides, singing and dancing requires some coordination that I lack. But still, I found myself in the theater world here in St. Louis, getting paid to do what I like. It was fun. Throughout my time at Webster, I just kept doing productions. I worked at STAGES St. Louis for four seasons and just really enjoyed it.”

In 2003, Bryant took his expertise in event production to Maritz, a global sales and marketing services company. Despite the corporate environment, Bryant was still able to work on many creative projects, and he also became acquainted with teleconferencing technology before Zoom became commonplace.

However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the company’s operations, and Bryant’s position became precarious. Lester Stewart, director of event operations at UMSL, previously worked with Bryant and tapped him to fill the role of technology and event manager in 2022.

In his current role, Bryant oversees a variety of events across campus, from student-led programs to homecoming activities to professional conferences. He likens the event production process to detective work. With each client, he investigates what they think they need and determines how to make it happen or if the client actually requires a different solution. Because each project has unique specifications, no two days are exactly the same.

But that’s the way Bryant likes it.

“I like variety; I like change,” he said. “I also like to help people improve the quality of their events. For a lot of people doing these programs, this is not their everyday job. We get people that are afraid of public speaking. We get people who are trying to figure out how to coordinate a conference. And I like being able to help with that.”

Stewart commended his dedication to that work.

“John has been the lead AV tech for the events team for three years,” Stewart wrote in his Hero Award nomination. “In his tenure, he has supported hundreds of events on campus for our campus community, leading to the transformation of many lives.”

Bryant noted that has only been possible due to colleagues like Stewart and Blain McVey as well as numerous student workers. He added that the ability to collaborate with students, staff and faculty across disciplines on a wide range of events is the best part of coming to work each day at UMSL.

“Coming from the corporate world to higher ed, it’s a very different vibe,” Bryant said. “It’s a very different atmosphere. It’s much more vibrant here.”

Jaleh Fazelian

Fazelian entered the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville assuming she would eventually become a history teacher.

From a young age, Fazelian was interested in history and current events. As a 7-year-old, she would even ask her parents to watch the news. However, a graduate assistantship at SIUE’s Lovejoy Library changed the trajectory of her career.

“I was in grad school, and I needed a job,” she recalled. “They had a job at the reference desk, and I just thought it was really fun. Every day was different. You never knew what question was going to come up. I was always learning something new. It was before Google was the thing, so we had to get all the reference books and use the card catalog.”

The experience motivated Fazelian to pursue library sciences instead of education. After graduating from SIUE with a master’s degree in Middle Eastern history, she earned an MLS from Indiana University. She first gained experience as a government documents librarian and archivist before taking a position as the Islamic studies librarian at Washington University in St. Louis. The position allowed her to combine her passions for libraries and Middle Eastern culture and history.

After eight years, Fazelian left WUSTL to gain leadership experience at John Carroll University’s Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center.

“I was head of all public services,” Fazelian said. “I made sure that the library functioned properly. I tried to make the library open, welcome and accessible to students. It was my job to make sure it was a nice place to be, a fun place to be.”

Fazelian returned to St. Louis in 2019 to assume her current role as associate dean of University Libraries. For the last several years, a major portion of the job has been managing the renovation of the Mercantile and Thomas Jefferson Libraries, a project that’s part of the greater Transform UMSL initiative.

“During the recent renovation Jaleh coordinated with the campus construction team, architects, contractors, library staff and others to ensure that anything that needed to be done by the library team was completed in a timely fashion to keep the project on schedule,” Dean of University Libraries Christopher Dames said. “When thousands of books needed to be moved, she led the effort by moving many of them herself. It was an exceptional effort during a challenging time.”

In addition to tracking repairs and keeping students updated about the project, Fazelian also had an instrumental role in guiding the redesign of the library spaces.

“The library had done a lot of investigation prior to the renovation about what people wanted, so we made sure to listen to that and bring that into the library,” she said. “My job was to make sure that we were keeping those users in mind all the time. The way I look at it, I’m the steward of this building. This renovation wasn’t for me. It shouldn’t be to my taste. It should be to what the campus wants and what the students want. So how do I make that possible to the best of my ability, right?”

In November, members of the UMSL community and supporters of the university, including Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and University of Missouri President Mun Choi, gathered to celebrate the completion of the $12.1 million renovation. Fazelian has been most heartened by the response from the student body, though.

“It’s brought me an immense amount of joy to see the students, when they come in, and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, wow,’” she said. “They can’t believe this is their library now. That’s what brings me joy – them thinking this is the coolest place to be on campus. That’s what I love.”

As she was during her tenure at John Carroll, Fazelian is focused on making University Libraries as accessible and welcoming as possible. She always aims to keep library patrons in mind whether she’s tackling a big change like the renovation or something more modest.

“I know that a small policy change actually does affect a lot of people,” she said. “When we make that change, are we making the best change for the user? That’s ultimately my goal. How do we make the library just that much better than it was yesterday? We can’t always do that, but my goal is to always make it a little bit better than it was the day before.”