Spring 2019, Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Jeff Mathews, administrative associate for the division of gastroenterology and hepatology, is well-loved by his colleagues.  They call him “patient, kind, supportive, attentive, solid, and dependable.”

He’s been with the department for 11 years and spends his days multitasking: coordinating meetings, calendaring, travel planning, submitting reimbursements, and updating the division website and various lab websites.  He’s also an old hand at Stanford--before he worked for the DOM he managed the supply/gifts/shipping department at the Stanford Bookstore.

His colleagues clearly love him for many reasons, but two of them gave specific examples.

“Jeff Mathews took on management of our Division website without any experience,” one says.  “We had no one and the website was extremely out of date. The new chief and I sat with him, went through a bunch of websites that we wanted to mimic and gave him a map of the various pages we needed. Within a week, he'd made almost every request come to life, including some very complicated things.”

Another colleague says, “About two years ago Jeff took on supporting one of our busiest research faculty members. Today I spoke to that faculty member and she said she can't imagine not having Jeff by her side assisting her.  She speaks nothing but praise about his work, ethics, attendance, etc.”

For his part, Jeff was “surprised and grateful” to get the award, especially because, “There are many deserving people in the Department.”  He enjoys his job because “there is a real sense of community.” He adds, “I’m very fortunate to work with faculty, co-workers and division leadership who work as a team to support the shared goals of the Department.”

In his spare time, Jeff likes biking, hiking, and movies.