The George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science is a place where materials are constantly assembled for discovery and experimentation—all for the purpose of bettering society through building.
Sometimes, those materials are metals, polymers, ceramics and composites.
And sometimes, they are boatloads of peanut butter and bread.
Since 1981, Zephra Coles has worked within the school as an operations leader, executive administrator and associate program director for various departments. She has served countless students, faculty and staff members in behind-the-scenes efforts—such as scheduling, coordinating events, setting up seminars and orienting interns—that make an entity as large and nationally recognized as GW Engineering run.
Her passion for people and serving others extends far beyond the walls of the Science and Engineering Hall.
Active in the D.C. community through various leadership organizations and her church, where her husband is the pastor, Coles frequently assists local food pantries. One particular time, when Coles was working in GW Engineering's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, Martha’s Table asked for 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to distribute to the unhoused community.
It was a big job.
So she turned to her teammates at GW Engineering for help, the way so many others have turned to her.
She recruited whoever she could to bring in jars of peanut butter and loaves of bread. They took over one of the kitchen areas within the building. And as a school, they assembled 500 sandwiches and even delivered them to the nonprofit, located in Southeast D.C.
“Those are the kinds of things that we do when the call is put out,” Coles said. “We work together.”
The peanut butter sandwich-making endeavor was one of many instances where Coles puts others first. Currently the associate program director for the school’s Consortium on Naval Enterprise Pathways (CoNEP), she will be recognized Wednesday for her 45 years of service to GW and GW Engineering at the annual Career Milestones ceremony.
A bright, friendly personality who is also highly organized, her impact has been felt by many since her arrival on campus four-and-a-half decades ago.
“She’s always so warm and incredibly helpful, but she also keeps things so professional,” said Sandra Little, special assistant to the dean who has worked with Coles at GW Engineering since 2004. “When you really need something, you can always count on her. And it will always be a pleasure to work on anything with her.”
Little was Coles’ co-team lead for the Martha’s Table peanut butter sandwiches job.
While titles have changed throughout the years, all of Coles’ positions within GW Engineering have been hands-on and people facing. Whether setting up a visit for a prospective student, helping a graduate student get acquainted in the lab or helping a faculty member file reports, her jobs have all centered around day-to-day management, making sure things flow smoothly.
Coles said that in order to do this kind of work well, one has to truly enjoy being around people, because genuineness can make a huge difference in any capacity.
“You’ve got to like people, and you've got to be patient,” she said. “You’ve got to be a good listener. I just think those things are so important.”
She develops relationships with the people she works with—students, faculty and staff alike. It’s the people at GW who have kept her coming back all these years. Some have become close personal friends. She’s laughed, cried and shared stories with her coworkers. She’s thrown them baby showers. She’s guided students through good times and bad.
One of the most rewarding parts of her job is when she sees someone she once helped or mentored build on the foundation they created at GW Engineering to launch a meaningful career and life of their own.
“I love when they come back, and they've achieved the goal or exceeded the goal that they wanted to achieve,” Coles said. “And then I also love it when they come back with their families, with their babies, with their husband or wife or fiancé. That happens a lot, too.
“When they reach out, or if I reach out to them and say, ‘OK, what's going on? Any updates?’ and they say, ‘I'm going to grad school,’ or, ‘I'm going to Europe.’ Those kinds of reports are really good to hear.”
GW is a big part of Coles’ story. When she moved back to D.C. from Detroit and eventually landed at GW in 1981, she couldn’t have imagined it would be her forever home. But that’s exactly what it became. One of her two sons graduated from the university in 2010 when then-First Lady Michelle Obama was the Commencement speaker, a personal thrill for the Coles family.
She’s made friends with so many people at the university while helping even more along the way. Passionate about helping others, Coles hopes she’ll be remembered by not just what she did, but how she did it.
“[I want people to remember] that she was warm. That she was helpful. That she was thoughtful. That she cared. That she followed through,” Coles said.
“And that she always had a smile.”
