Andy Evangelista
For the first time in 30 years, Andy Evangelista, who began his career at UCSF in 1975 as an assistant editor of the student newspaper Synapse, will report for duty today (March 1) outside the city of San Francisco.
Evangelista, web communications manager for University Publications, part of Public Affairs, was recruited to serve a seven-month fellowship in the office of Client Relations and Diversity at the UC Office of the President. He will join an effort to communicate the University's appreciation for diversity, which includes creating a website. At UCSF, Evangelista has covered issues of diversity and has served on several campus committees, including those examining diversity and the work environment.
Evangelista is looking forward to the fellowship, which gives him an opportunity to meet faculty, staff, students and leaders from throughout the ten-campus system and to develop greater knowledge about the University as a whole. He plans to return to his job at UCSF Public Affairs in October 2005.
During a recent interview, Evangelista reflected on his experiences at UCSF, recounting numerous stories he told while at Synapse and the past 23 years in Public Affairs. Like many UCSF veterans, Evangelista has witnessed the pivotal moments in UCSF history, observing and experiencing the phenomenal growth over a period of five chancellors. He has interviewed scores of UCSF scientists about their groundbreaking biomedical discoveries and life-saving treatments that sets UCSF apart from academic medical centers worldwide. With a keen memory of faces and facts, Evangelista often serves as an unofficial historian for many who call upon him to remember even the most obscure information.
"The most significant story I have covered was the emergence of the AIDS virus in the early 1980s," Evangelista says. "It was a period when media demanded information about a poorly understood disease."
Indeed, Evangelista and his colleagues covered the early studies on AIDS before the term was even coined and reported on the scientific progress of internationally recognized UCSF pioneers such as Jay Levy, Paul Volberding and Mark Conant. He assisted various media, both national and local, in covering the epidemic as it began claiming countless lives in San Francisco and beyond.
While working for University Publications, Evangelista did some pioneering of his own, leading UCSF's early efforts in web communication, including the 1997 debut of the daily online publication called Daybreak, one of the first of its kind for a university. Daybreak evolved into UCSF Today, a publication unveiled in 2001 that offers news from and about UCSF. His main job in recent years has been to serve as content manager of the main UCSF website and co-editor of UCSF Today.
'Walking Institution'
What warms his heart the most about chronicling campus history over the past three decades was delving into the lives of staff, reporting on the contributions of secretaries, custodians, and graveyard plant personnel and others with low-profile jobs. Their stories were regular fodder for the long-gone printed publication called the UCSF Journal, a quarterly publication for UCSF staff. The Journal received the American Association of Medical Colleges Award for outstanding internal publication one year after he became managing editor. Evangelista later picked up his passion for writing about everyday people in a popular web column that showcased his trademark sense of humor.
"As corny as this may be, it's been getting to know the rank-and-file staff that I have enjoyed the most," Evangelista says. "The reason I have stayed at UCSF so long is not because it was a bad habit, but because I learned about the strengths of this place through the people who work here. The thing I am most proud of is that I've had the opportunity to interview the blue-collar worker, prize-winning scientists and everyone in between. You develop an appreciation for UCSF."
For many seasoned UCSF staff members, Evangelista is appreciated as the central contact to campus life.
"He really is a walking institution at UCSF," says Gail Mametsuka, a longtime staffer in Campus Life Services. "His position at Public Affairs allows him to announce our brightest accomplishments and inform us of our darkest failures. But what makes Andy so special is his well-balanced perspective on life. Whether it's seeking facts on a hot story or refereeing at a middle school championship game. Andy plays with a positive attitude on and off the court."
The departure of Evangelista, coupled with the constant pursuit of innovation in UCSF's web publications, has prompted an overhaul of the daily operations within the University Publications unit. Changes will be strategic and will streamline web communications.
"Andy's contributions to the communication effort at UCSF have been immense, says his boss Jeff Miller, director of University Publications. "From news writer to magazine editor and now web manager, he has kept the stories coming and the wit and wisdom flowing. We can't really replace such a UCSF fixture. We can merely keep working and hope he remembers to come back after seven months."
His temporary exit has created a huge vacancy and instead of trying to fill Evangelista's shoes outright, University Publications is rethinking how to deliver online news and information that the campus community counts on in novel ways, Miller adds.
For starters, Miller and Lisa Cisneros, currently co-editor of UCSF Today and editor of Newsbreak, will begin sharing the task of updating the web content with the help of the web design, technical and production team and in collaboration with campuswide communicators. To submit or suggest stories for online or print publications, please contact
Miller and/or
Cisneros.
Source: Lisa Cisneros
