Greg Colby, systems infrastructure architect for Elon, has been chosen as the June recipient for the Acorn Accolade award.
Colby has worked as a systems administrator for Elon for over a decade, and has held the position of systems architect for just the past eight months. Responsible for both the hardware and software required for the university to run cohesively, Colby has an exceptional level of knowledge and breadth of expertise. He has also demonstrated the flexibility and ingenuity to fix technological problems that nobody else on campus can fix — even in departments completely unrelated to his own — and is the man to thank for Elon’s consistent web presence and your personal account access.
Benevolent as well as brilliant, Colby’s colleagues report that he’s dependable and easy to work with. Colby’s supervisor, Jerry Williams, believes that his nomination was definitely merited, and was especially pleased to see the people who work in Systems, which is typically behind-the-scenes and only really ‘seen’ when something goes wrong, being recognized. This is especially true of Colby who, he said, is “the go-to-guy when there’s a problem that seems unsolvable. He’s a crucial part of our team.”
Colby himself expressed some surprise at his nomination, but was very honored to be recognized alongside the past recipients. Though he confesses that it never really felt like over-achieving, and that “being able to work on things that I find interesting and challenging keeps me motivated. I’m a problem solver. My job is essentially solving problems, so it works out.”
Our thanks and congratulations to Greg Colby!