This month’s Hero Award recipients are Michael Howe, a senior research engineering technician in the College of Optometry; Natalia Mata, an academic coach in the Office of University Student Support and Emily Byrne, office support staff for the College of Arts and Sciences’ Office of Academic Advising. (Photos by Derik Holtmann and August Jennewein)

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 Michael Howe, a senior research engineering technician in the College of Optometry; Natalia Mata, a student success coach in the Office of University Student Support; and Emily Byrne, student support specialist for the College of Arts and Sciences’ Office of Academic Advising.

Michael Howe

In the 1980s, when Michael Howe was working at an engineering model shop building prototype devices for military and space, he thought there couldn’t possibly be a better job. As a trained machinist, the work was challenging and, most importantly, enjoyable.

Then, after seven years, the company shut down. Howe found himself out of work for a few months before eventually landing a part-time job in engineering research support for UMSL’s College of Optometry in 1991. While he hadn’t envisioned himself working in higher education, he’s enjoyed crossing paths with hundreds of students in his 34 years at UMSL – and he knows his previous career wouldn’t have afforded him the opportunity to do so.

“I left industry forcefully,” Howe said. “I didn’t have a choice, and I thought that was the greatest job I could have ever wanted. And it was great when I had it, but when I came to the university, it was like, ‘Wow, this is actually where it’s at.’”

As a senior research engineering technician, Howe supports the College of Optometry’s clinics and labs by repairing equipment, keeping existing equipment up and running, consulting on new equipment and designing and fabricating new devices. He’s worked on many memorable projects over the years. For instance, Howe was part of the team, led by Director of Research Carl Bassi, that created the Triple Track Golf ball now produced by Callaway. Howe helped build a prototype featuring a laser installed inside a golf ball that can determine a golfer’s aim. The study found an 11 percent improvement in aim when using the Triple Track ball.

And during the COVID-19 pandemic, Howe helped prepare the University Eye Center for safe patient care by fabricating over 100 face shields, as well as shields for optometric equipment, on a 3D printer. He also worked with Bassi to adapt the college’s optics lab for at-home learning, featuring a shoebox-sized lens kit that’s still in use today.

Dr. Vinita Henry, associate dean of clinical operations and a clinical professor in the College of Optometry, said Howe is an UMSL Hero due to his creative and engineering talents that keep the college’s labs and clinic running smoothly.

“He certainly goes the extra mile,” Henry wrote in her nomination. “Even when a manufacturer pronounces a piece of equipment as obsolete or not functional, Michael will investigate and often can produce a fix. One piece of lab equipment was missing a piece and Michael created a duplicate that only by comparison of weight can you tell the difference. A new piece of clinical equipment had a flaw that causes a weak part to be quick to break. Michael created a fix and was able to install the fix on all the pieces of equipment such that the weak, faulty part was corrected. If Michael is given a problem, he will think on it and come back with a way to correct it.”

Outside of just fixing, building and maintaining equipment, Howe enjoys collaborating with optometry students to help them understand why problems with equipment arise and how to prevent them from happening again. Working with the students is incredibly rewarding for him, and he’s amazed at how quickly time seems to pass between each class starting their first year and graduating. Although he might not have envisioned a career in higher education all those years ago, he’s happy he ended up where he did.

“When you enjoy what you’re doing and it doesn’t seem like work, all of a sudden, you blink and it’s been 34 years,” Howe said. “It’s like, how did that go by so quick? I’ve never dreaded getting out of bed and coming in to work. I always have something that’s going to stimulate me. It might be cliché to some people, because you hear it a lot, but I really believe it.”

Natalia Mata

Natalia Mata has known since college that she wanted to find a career that would allow her to help people, and it didn’t take long for to find her calling in higher education. A first-generation college student, Mata participated in the TRIO program at Washington University in St. Louis, which soon morphed into a position as an academic skills consultant. She’s well aware of the challenges facing first-generation students and enjoyed being able to create a supportive environment for students who might not know how to navigate college on their own.

Now, as a student success coach in UMSL’s Office of University Student Support, Mata gets to do that work each and every day, working closely with students from the time they’re admitted up until their graduation.

“We’re the point people for students to have someone who cares enough to check in and ask those hard questions,” Mata said. “I know as a student myself, that was kind of what got me through. We make sure that they have the tools to be successful in college and ask them the hard questions, like, ‘What are your thoughts about your major?’ ‘Are you enjoying it?’ ‘What type of jobs do you have?’ Just to see the student as more than a number and to know their story, and make sure that they feel like they belong and that they thrive here at UMSL.”

Mata also serves as the coordinator of iMentor, which matches first-year students with upper class mentors to foster academic, personal and professional development. She gets to know each mentor individually, creates training programs to meet their needs and plans events and activities for the program. Throughout her work in student support, she enjoys collaborating with UMSL’s unique student body, which is comprised of many nontraditional students, and said it’s fulfilling to be able to support them in their dreams. One student, for instance, transferred to UMSL from community college and, while she knew what she wanted to do, wasn’t quite sure how to get there. Over many conversations and shared resources, Mata helped guide the student to graduate with a degree in biology, and she was later accepted into WUSTL’s genetic counseling program. To this day, she still reaches out to Mata to share life updates, like when she had a paper published a few months ago.

“The most rewarding part is seeing that growth and that self-advocacy that our students get over time,” Mata said. “A lot of our students come in with a lot of doubts, because they have dreams of their own that they’ve been told may not be possible. To watch them, over time, grow into themselves and have that courage of, ‘Hey, I’m going to pursue that. I’m going to see where that goes,’ for me, it’s just fulfilling to be able to be part of that journey and to see them feel fulfilled as to where they’re going and confident that they’re making the decisions that they want for themselves.”

Derrick Freeman, director of the Office of University Student Support, said that Mata’s experience as a first-generation college student, along with her naturally caring and empathetic nature, has aided her in understanding the plight and situations of students and allows her to be an advocate and voice for them. “In a short time, Natalia has built great rapport with her students and takes pride in their growth and development and understands her role in that development,” Freeman wrote in his nomination for the Hero Award.

Emily Byrne

Emily Byrne is the first person students meet when they come into the dean’s office and academic advising office in the College of Arts and Sciences. In fact, she was the first person Dean Andrew Balkansky met during his interview and is still the first person he sees each morning. For over 20 years, he says, Byrne been an essential part of students’ experiences in the college.

“She has been unfailingly calm, patient, supportive and helpful to each and every student who comes through the door,” Balkansky wrote in his nomination for the Hero Award. “Her desire to work with students – and to help others – has been her mission. She is an essential staff member, a leader and a Hero each and every day.”

Byrne, who earned her associate degree in child care from St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley in December 2000, has worked in the College of Arts and Sciences since 2003. While her responsibilities have evolved over the years, including collaborating with advisors, managing office supplies and participating in graduation and other outreach activities, her role has remained primarily people-facing. That’s ideal for Byrne, as interacting, with students is one of her favorite parts of the job.

“We have a diverse population of students in terms of age, generation and experience,” Byrne said. “We have 19-year-old first-time freshmen and we’ve had some quite seasoned seniors who have come back and finished their degree after decades of being away. I enjoy watching them go through that process. Also, with having so many majors within our college, the temperament and the personalities of our students oftentimes reflect their majors, so that keeps things fun and pretty interesting.”

Byrne values the supportive work environment and positive energy within the College of Arts and Sciences and said she’s exactly where she wants to be. Over the years, she’s been able to build many rewarding relationships with students and always enjoys seeing them cap off their college career during UMSL’s graduation and commencement ceremonies.

“The energy during that time is pretty special,” she said.