Mary Bryan had no idea that when she started her job at the COM in 1972, she was going to work in the same department for the next 35 years.

Bryan was awarded a pin for her 35 years of service in the department of pediatrics during the Health Science Center Service Pin Awards Ceremony, held Monday, May 12.

“The past 35 years have been wonderful,” said Bryan, the department’s research coordinator. “I’m so thankful for peds, and I couldn’t think of a better cause to work for. We save the lives of children.”

She enjoys being part of a team that’s making such a difference in the lives of the children.

“It’s all about the kids for everybody in peds,” she said. “I work with such great people.”

The advances she’s seen throughout her career at the COM help keep her passion for her job alive.

“I remember when I first started working, and I saw premature babies fight for their lives,” said Bryan, who was president of the Association of Administrators in Academic Pediatrics in 1999. “It was like the survival of the fittest. But now, they [the doctors] know exactly what to do and babies are being saved daily.”

Although her and her husband, Kevin, don’t have children of their own, they are always around children, especially with 14 nephews and nieces. And once she retires in two and a half years she doesn’t plan to leave the COM entirely.

“I would really like to be a storyteller and come back and read to the kids who are in the hospital,” she said. “Oh, and I’ll be taking a big trip to New Zealand.”

Click here for the entire list of all those who were recognized during the Health Science Center Service Pin awards Ceremony.