Last updated 10/11/2021
The J. Tillman Hall Staff Award for Service to USC is presented to Mitzi M. Tsujimoto posthumously who we sadly lost in January 2012. Mitzi worked at USC for 24 years, and retired as Director of Admission, Financial Aid and Student Affairs at the USC School of Pharmacy in January 1998. Upon retirement, Mitzi continued her long service to USC by volunteering in a number of capacities.
Mitzi served as the Associate Director, Staff Liaison, and Volunteer Coordinator at the USC Emeriti Center. As a volunteer in all these roles, Mitzi provided outstanding leadership, organization, and dependability as though she were a staff member. As Volunteer Coordinator, she maintained a supportive workforce of retirees, who would otherwise have remained unavailable to the USC Emeriti Center, the USC Emeriti Center College and to the University. As the volunteer Emeriti Center Associate Director and Staff Liaison, Mitzi constantly represented the interests of the Emeriti Center staff and advocated on behalf of USC retirees. She also provided invaluable knowledge and referrals to her associations on the Health Sciences Campus, which enhanced collaborations with the University Park Campus. As one of the first coordinators of the H. Dale Hilton Living History Video Tape Project, she continued to maintain records for this project; organized and preserved records for the Emeriti Center’s Annual Fundraising Campaign and the USC Directory; and cultivated frequent contact with key USC retirees who volunteered to staff these projects.
She served on the Board of Directors of the USC Staff Retirement Association (SRA), devoting her time and sharing her expertise with Emeriti Center advancement efforts; was an integral part of the original planning committee for the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE) and an active member on the Retired Faculty/Staff Benefits and Resource Committee. Her resourcefulness, graciousness, and experience were indispensable assets to the vision of the USC Emeriti Center’s mission to provide service and learning opportunities to retired USC faculty and staff.
In addition to her volunteer services to the Emeriti Center, Mitzi actively volunteered at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, serving as President of the USC Norris Cancer Hospital Auxiliary from 2001 to 2004 and serving on the Board of the Edmondson Faculty Center on the Health Sciences Campus. For over ten years, she volunteered at least one day a week at the Norris Cancer Hospital’s Gift Shop. A dedicated member of the hospital’s volunteer team, Mitzi greatly enhanced the quality of service to the patients, visitors, and staff at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Hospital.
Through her dedication, commitment, and Trojan spirit, Mitzi made significant contributions to the USC community even after her retirement. Her generous nature and outstanding service have served to benefit, both directly and indirectly, all the retirees of the USC community and the University at large. Mitzi’s energy and selfless commitment to serving others was truly exemplary.
Award presented to Tsujimoto family on March 15, 2012