But he noted that the junta had stopped dismissing her as "irrelevant" in state media, the word used to describe her for years.
Describing her for a Wisconsin newspaper last year, O'Connor (whose sister, Jill Abramson, is the executive editor of The New York Times) put it this way: "She's sort of a hothouse orchid in a family of daisies".
As for Culverhouse, Austin described her as a perfect fit for the job.
Colleagues described her as a stickler for the rules.
Her mentor Cheryl described her as "a trooper" for performing this weekend.
They described her as a champion for transparency, accountability and prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
A contemporary described her as "always looking for the next thing to do".
"Doomed," is how Felix Salmon described her in a recent piece for Fusion.
As the students worked, Ms. Neithardt described her plans for a new class: shoemaking for cross-dressers.
Gina Kolata described her process for choosing a Medicare drug plan for her 92-year-old father.
Taylor herself described her appreciation for the star in conversation with Kim Kardashian for Harper's Bazaar in 2011.
