Farewell tribute to Douglas Stewart

Doug, we were so glad to welcome you as programmer/analyst for Lafayette’s Information Technology Services on Sept. 22, 1997. Your outstanding capability for managing our enterprise data management systems was highly appreciated at Lafayette. 

During your tenure at Lafayette, you demonstrated the insights, skills, and determination needed to accomplish the myriad facets of your role at the College. You were extremely capable in supporting technology throughout our institution, whether it was a broken process or if a member of the Lafayette community sought insights on leveraging their technology to accomplish their objectives. Your efforts to develop reports for many of the College’s departments—such as financial aid, the dean of advising, finance, and the registrar—produced instruments for the success not only of those departments but also of our students and the College. Because of the insights you offered in the reports that you created, Lafayette’s departments could make business decisions that moved the College forward toward our goals. 

We appreciate your flexibility in accommodating the intents of all of Lafayette’s departments and your willingness to adapt your priorities to be consistent with those that the College needs most. We valued the diligence you showed, your hard-working attitude, and the fact that you were always ready and willing to lend a hand. Not only are you very technically savvy, but you also were very thorough in your service to Lafayette. You set the demanding goal for yourself of being a perfect supporter of the College community and were very deliberate in ensuring that you offered the College community the very best care that you could give them. Your reliability fostered in all of your colleagues the rested assurance that you could always be counted on. 

You were constantly willing to work on special projects. One of the largest projects that you completed right before your retirement was the implementation of our document management and imagining system. We appreciate the training you did to enable your colleagues to know how to use this tool. 

As a result of the efforts that you made throughout your membership on the Information Technology Services team, you were a catalyst for the success of the broad spectrum of the Lafayette College community and an instrument for advancing the College’s most critically important priorities. So cherished were your contributions at Lafayette that you were recognized with the Leopard Award in 2012, which is presented to staff members who have made an exceptional contribution to the College by working on a special project or event or by providing some type of extraordinary service beyond their normal job responsibilities. In 2016, you also were promoted to information technology business analyst.

Doug, you are missed at Lafayette. You were a caring, honest, and loyal friend to all of your colleagues. We valued not only your technical abilities but also the extremely dry sense of humor that you showcased in your fabulously witty written storytelling. We treasured your ability to point out the most obscure things and turn them into a very meaningful, direct, and deliberate communication that we would find hilarious. Your insights were effective in building community among your colleagues. We hope you enjoy a wonderful retirement.