Tobin Magle Receives 2025 Employee Excellence Award
Posted Date: March 24, 2026
At the February Northwestern IT Extended Staff Meeting, Tobin Magle, lead data management specialist, Research Computing and Data Services, was recognized with the 2025 Employee Excellence Award, honoring her exceptional leadership, collaboration, and commitment to advancing Northwestern’s research and academic mission.
I work with so many wonderful colleagues in Northwestern IT. I’m very honored to be recognized with this award because I know exactly how stiff the competition is! Thank you all for your support and recognition.”
Tobin Magle
Tobin Magle, Lead Data Management Specialist, Research Computing and Data&
Over the past year, Tobin has led several high-impact initiatives that have significantly improved how the University community accesses and uses research data management resources. From expanding training and consultation offerings to championing user-focused service improvements, Tobin’s work has made a tangible difference across campus.
Tobin’s ability to challenge assumptions, identify hidden risks, and propose grounded alternatives accelerated progress in service delivery planning, even during a long discovery phase. ”
Jackie Milhans
Director, Research Computing and Data
Transforming Research Data Stewardship
A major highlight of Tobin’s year was her leadership of the Research Data Storage Sustainability (RDSS) and Archive Strategy. Tobin brought order to complexity and shaped how the University approaches the stewardship of research data in an increasingly complex and resource-constrained environment. Her insight and consultation resulted in nearly 8.8 PB of inactive research data identified for archival, with 1.4 PB confirmed archived to AWS Glacier Deep Archive, and additional PBs planned for migration.
Additional highlights include:
- Evidence-based storage modeling: Developed data‑driven AWS cost models to guide negotiations and planning.
- Globus service expansion: Designed a sustainable architecture and piloted an 88 TB archival workflow for a University research lab.
- Data lifecycle policy development: Authored proposals that informed scalable, compliant archiving practices.
- Team development: Strengthened RCDS onboarding, skills, and cross-training to support higher-level consulting.
Service Delivery That Sets the Standard
Tobin meets researchers where they are—across disciplines, technical backgrounds, and data management maturity levels. She is currently leading high-touch consultations, including large data migrations for faculty, designing high-throughput data workflows for instruments that produce large datasets, and transitioning a University Research Core Facility onto centrally managed storage. She also:
- Became the primary contact for transcription service guidance, clarifying approved tools, SPSA pathways, and risk mitigation.
- Transformed the workshop ecosystem, shifting from lecture-heavy to practical, applied training rooted in Northwestern use cases—introducing a memorable “show the treasure first” approach (including new Power Automate workshops).
- Created the Spring Cleaning workshop to drive urgent storage reduction—leading to targeted follow-ups and tailored consultations with top data consumers.
- Elevated documentation quality by partnering with Research Computing Services to implement a new platform, retrofitting RDSS and Globus materials, coaching colleagues in Markdown, and setting a new clarity standard.
A Respected Colleague
Colleagues describe her as a thoughtful partner, an innovative problem solver, and someone who always keeps the needs of faculty, students, and staff at the center of her decision-making.Tobin consistently demonstrates a remarkable ability to bring people together, strengthen services, and create an environment where researchers feel supported, empowered, and understood.”
Kristin McLean (Nominator)
Manager, Data Management Services, Research Computing and Data Services
Leveraging a unique scientific background, Tobin communicated in researchers’ language… She attended almost 40 interviews with FSM IT staff… wrote complex queries to use Starfish in advanced ways… and consistently made time to help. Beyond technical contributions, she’s a pleasure to work with—friendly, approachable, and always willing to help. ”
John Arends
Director, Information Technology, Feinberg School of Medicine
Tobin consistently brings calm, good humor, deep knowledge across multiple areas, and a willingness to dive into challenging tasks. I always appreciate her feedback and insights. In the area of research data archiving, especially, Northwestern is in a better, more sustainable position because of her efforts. ”
Matthew Rich
Manager, Cloud Systems Engineering, Cyberinfrastructure Platform Services
Congratulations, Tobin!
Tobin’s award reflects not only her accomplishments, but also the positive, collaborative spirit she brings to the IT community every day. Please join us in congratulating her on this well-deserved recognition.
You can learn more about Tobin’s work in IT by reading the Colleague Connection article in the May 2025 Take 5 newsletter issue.