The George Sherman Union Food Court feeds 8,000 people each day, serving up an enormous variety of food, from home-style turkey dinners to grilled eggplant naan to skinny soy lattes. Putting it all together requires a small army of food-service personnel, but none of it would be possible without the behind-the-scenes efforts of a modest man who’s been working for BU Dining Services for 55 of his 73 years.

Lee Morris might be one of the most popular men on campus. “He is absolutely beloved by the kitchen staff,” says Barbara Laverdiere, director of Dining Services. “He’s like the grandpa of the place.” Dining Services executive chef Christopher Bee unhesitatingly seconds that: “Being liked doesn’t have to be part of his job—but he’s very well liked.”

But Morris is more than just a likable guy. He’s also a tireless, loyal worker who has rarely taken a sick day and could be counted on to arrive at work through every one of last winter’s record-setting blizzards. And that’s key, because without him, the GSU’s 13 walk-ins, its freezers and pantries, would be bare.

Morris works the loading dock, making sure that boxes and buckets and bins full of eggs and olives, chicken and cream cheese, pasta and yogurt, tomatoes and potatoes—everything that passes through the kitchen—arrive on time and in top condition. With his ever-present yellow thermometer—tucked into a shirt pocket when not in use—he takes the temperature of every perishable item, checking that what’s supposed to be cold is actually cold. He’s in charge of distributing the items throughout the various storage areas and rotating the stock, allowing cooks to find what they need when they need it. In short, although he’s not behind the stove, he’s a critical factor in the GSU formula: no Morris, no food.

Dining Services director Barbara Laverdiere presented Morris with Aramark’s Ring of Stars award October 26 in recognition of 55 years of service to BU. Photo courtesy of BU Dining Services

Morris’ dedication and commitment to his job have not gone unnoticed by his coworkers and supervisors. When Aramark, the food-service company that runs the University’s Dining Services, put out the call for nominees for its inaugural Ring of Stars award, Laverdiere immediately thought of Morris. “This was the perfect—and last—opportunity to recognize his work on a larger scale,” she says. (Morris says he may retire later this year.)

The award is given to employees who exemplify Aramark’s values, which include such qualities as respect, integrity, and involvement in the community. Aramark has more than 270,000 employees and 1,400 were nominated for the award: 200 made the cut. Laverdiere was delighted, but not surprised that Morris was one of the winners. She’d polled several managers prior to submitting his nomination, and she says their response was unanimous: “Pretty much the theme was—no one deserves it more than Lee.”

Out on the loading dock on a typically busy Friday morning, Morris is low-key about the honor. “I like doing the job right,” he says simply, quick to share credit with the “wonderful people here at BU,” the coworkers he considers almost as a family. He was surprised, to learn he’d won. “I couldn’t believe it,” he says, “I said, ‘Really?’” All he’d done, he maintains, is work hard and get the job done.

The Aramark prize included a ring and a trip last month to Phoenix for a special awards ceremony. But Morris wasn’t able to make the journey to Arizona. The oldest of nine children, he is largely responsible for the care of his elderly mother, whom he visits every day. Morris’ father, also a BU employee, brought his son on when he was a teenager. He passed away when the younger Morris was in his 20s, charging his son with taking care of the younger children, a promise he has kept for nearly 50 years.

Morris is in charge of stocking and rotating food supplies, and he knows exactly where every item in the kitchen belongs. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi

Morris has never been on an airplane, and attending the Phoenix ceremony, Laverdiere says, would have been “out of his comfort zone.” So instead, she arranged an in-house reception in the GSU recently. A crowd of more than 100 was there to applaud as Aramark executives and Laverdiere presented the Ring of Stars award to Morris. During the informal ceremony, she read from a letter of recognition by President A. Brown: “It takes a small army of dedicated employees—most performing highly specialized functions—to make sure Boston University achieves its mission….On the occasion when your colleagues are celebrating your well-earned recognition, I want to add my note of appreciation for all you do and have done over 55 years at Boston University.”

On the job, Morris is in constant motion, moving goods off trucks that arrive in a steady stream and making sure every bag, box, and bucket ends up where it belongs. If a delivery isn’t quite as it should be, he makes it known. “If three tomatoes are missing, I can tell,” he says with a chuckle. “You can’t get much by him,” Bee adds. Morris says that part of his approach is: “Don’t ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.”

His strength and dexterity would be impressive in a man half his age. He credits the work he does. “I keep in shape,” he says. “I don’t go to a gym—this keeps me going.” Busy as he is, though, he never hesitates to lend a hand elsewhere. “Even when he has 20 or 40 pallets to put away,” says Laverdiere, “he’ll always stop to help a coworker.” As he makes his rounds through the kitchen, he delivers a package of bacon to cook Walter Wiren, who says cheerfully, “This guy has been working here two more years than I’ve been alive.” At every turn, coworkers smile at Morris and greet him more as a long-lost friend than a colleague they see daily.

Talk of Morris’ retirement is met with more than a little trepidation. “He is irreplaceable,” Laverdiere says. Others say it’s simply hard to imagine the kitchen without his ever-present smile and encyclopedic knowledge of the storage systems. “We rely on him,” says executive pastry chef Joe Frackleton. “He keeps us organized.”

The Aramark award, welcome and fitting as it is, simply makes official what every member of the GSU staff already knows.

“Lee is the man,” says Laverdiere. “No doubt about it.”

Jane Dornbusch can be reached at jdornbusch@verizon.net.