Yolanda Barner-Thomas: 30 Years
Assistant Director of Operations
Department of Psychiatry
First UTSW job: My first position was Employee Relations Supervisor in Human Resources.
Best part about my job: It is the job I am in now – Assistant Director of Operations for Psychiatry. I like to describe it as whenever a manager gets a gleam in their eye that a new position is needed, and throughout the life cycle of that job, I and my staff are in the middle of it.
How co-workers describe me: They would say I am very direct and fair. Also, for anything they need to know, I will either have an answer or be able to tell them where to go to get the answer.
Most unusual UTSW memory: Years ago, at one of the sites where I was working, an alert came in of a potential active shooter. I directed all the employees I encountered to shelter in place. A senior faculty member, when he heard what was going on, wanted to open a door to look out but I ordered him back into his office. I don’t know if I used my “mama voice,” as my kids call it, or my “command voice,” since I was formerly an officer in the military, but everyone that heard me – including him – ran back, hid, and sheltered. That door did not open until I made Dallas police officers show their official credentials. In the end, all was cleared, and no shots were actually fired.
My proudest UTSW accomplishment: The Department of Psychiatry once had more than 350 staff and faculty in the former Paul M. Bass Administrative and Clinical Center. I was part of the huge effort to move them, multiple clinics, and research programs from that space so it could be imploded, then transition them into a new off-campus space that we renovated to meet their needs.
I’m really good at: Seeing the details and connections in situations.
Hobbies: I am a mixed-media artist and I love, love to travel.
Surprising fact: I was a debutante in the early ’70s.