After working at the University more than two decades, sisters Nita Yack and Judy Garza still talk with affection about how the dean of Physical Sciences once took time from his day to play on the floor with Yack’s young toddler.
For the sisters, that simple act of kindness by then-Dean Stuart Rice, the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Chemistry, added to their deep bond with the University and its people.
These days the sisters work in adjoining buildings—Garza as administrator of the Mathematics Department, and Yack as administrator of the Computer Science Department. They carry out much of their departments’ daily business, and they foster a sense of belonging that brings people together in their welcoming corner of the University.
Faculty members have become true friends who, like extended family members, invite the sisters into their homes, ask about their children’s birthdays, or offer tutoring and other academic assistance. Such treatment is perhaps a measure of their success as departmental administrators. Whether providing support for the hiring of a highly recruited new faculty member or helping to organize a symposium, their work reflects their dedication to the University’s mission and community.
“The things the University has given us are priceless,” Garza says.
Each crucial to their departments
Yack began working at UChicago in the Physical Sciences dean’s office in 1988, shortly after her sister Judy Garza started in the Chemistry Department. Although their jobs have shifted over the years, today they hold essentially parallel positions in the neighboring Computer Science and Mathematics departments housed in Ryerson and Eckhart halls.
Working in allied fields, the Computer Science and Mathematics department heads periodically collaborate on joint faculty appointments. It starts with the department leaders, but in the end they leave it to Yack and Garza to work out the details.
“We have our private, little debates about who’s going to handle the primary workload,” Garza says laughing, before breaking into a joking demonstration.
“That should be you,” Garza says.
“No, that should be you,” Yack replies playfully.
Garza remembers the two pieces of advice her supervisor in the Chemistry Department offered 20 years ago: “You take care of your faculty and you take care of your students, because that’s what runs this university.” The advice has served her well, she says.
Yack has earned a reputation for her frugality in Computer Science. She solicits bids for purchases, even when they fall below the University’s financial requirements. And the sisters both shop discount food stores for sodas and snacks for department-hosted events.
“I tote that stuff in. I’m doing that on my own time,” Yack says. “Why? Because it stretches my department’s budget that much further.”
Joy and gratitude for their jobs
Yack also makes annual donations to the Physical Sciences Division. Through such donations, she says, “we can strengthen our traditional standards of academic excellence and assure that the University of Chicago will be here and blooming in 100 years.”
Also employed at UChicago are Nita and Judy’s sister, Deborah Gann, supervisor of the Faculty Exchange; and Judy’s husband, Camilo, north campus supervisor in Facilities Services. In their early days at UChicago they carpooled, stuffing themselves into the Garzas’ red Ford Fiesta to get to work from their homes in northwest Indiana.
Nita is three years older than Judy, but they have been mistaken for twins, or one for the other, though some people say they look nothing alike. Their sons, Joshua Garza and Ryan Yack, were born a day apart 25 years ago. Daughters Tiffany Mathews and Jessica Garza arrived 10 months apart to the day.
Both families have come to value higher education as a result of their exposure to UChicago life. Tiffany and Jessica, both high school seniors, are college-bound, and Yack is working on her bachelor’s degree in human resources at Purdue University.
“We are very happy that all four of us have found successful careers here,” Yack says. “The University is a great place to work.”
By Steve Koppes
