Two ISU staff members have been “mugged,” but nobody is doing anything about it.

Bob Watson, senior development officer for the ISU Foundation, and Bill Thompson, ISU groundskeeper, have each received a mug from the Office of the President in recognition of their achievements, said ISU President Martin Jischke.

The awards are given to ISU staff members who show excellence in their work.

“It’s a recognition of an individual at the university who does something above and beyond the call of duty,” Jischke said.

The recipient receives an engraved mug and a formal “thank you” from the president’s office.

Jischke said about once a month he and a committee look at nominations to determine if any of the nominees should receive the award. Nomination forms can be found on the Office of the President Web site.

Jischke said the recipients of the award do work that does not ordinarily get acknowledged.

“First, they’re very hard-working. They do their work extremely well,” he said. “Second, they do work that does not get recognized in the normal order of things.”

Jischke said Watson is an example of someone who does not get much recognition for his work.

“He’s also just an absolutely wonderful human being,” he said.

He described Thompson, the most recent recipient, as “one of the unsung heroes at Iowa State.”

“He’s always got a smile on his face,” he said.

Thompson said he plants most of the annual and perennial flowers every year, does a lot of pruning of shrubs and small trees and snow removal in the winter. He works at eight buildings on central campus, including Beardshear.

He said he has been working at Iowa State for 25 years, and he will be retiring in about a month.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

Thompson said he was very honored to get the award. “I was very surprised. It was very, very nice,” he said.

He described how he learned that he was getting the award. He said it was “quite a thing” when his boss came in, handing him a sheet of paper with a message to come to the Great Hall of Memorial Union, “at which time I would be mugged.”

Jischke said he got the idea for the “mugging” when he saw a company that handed out mug awards.

“I thought it was an absolutely wonderful idea,” he said. “I was trying to find a way to say thank you to people whose work would not usually be recognized.”

Jischke said everyone involved with the presenting of the mug felt good about themselves.

“It’s just another way we’re saying thank you to some of the people at Iowa State who make important contributions,” he said.

Thompson said he has never won an award before.

“I certainly appreciated it. It’s a beautiful mug,” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to close out your career.”