Alumni

Gary San Julian, professor of wildlife resources in the School of Forest Resources, has received the 2004 Excellence in Academic Advising Award from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society. The award recognizes faculty for outstanding service to students in academic advising, career planning, and personal counseling.

In addition to receiving high praise from a host of students he currently advises, San Julian--who will receive an engraved brass plate and $1,000 honorarium at Penn State's commencement ceremonies--got support from a number of colleagues and past students.

"Gary San Julian has been advising students in various roles for more than 30 years," wrote Amanda Yeager, a senior majoring in wildlife and fisheries science, who nominated him for the award. "Today he is recognized among students in the School of Forest Resources as an energetic and approachable faculty member involved in student activities of all sorts. As a dynamic instructor in the classroom, a motivational and considerate adviser, and a supporter of many extracurricular activities, Dr. San Julian inspires students to pursue a college experience filled with rewarding academic and professional accomplishments."

Each year San Julian "officially" advises an average of 25 students, helping as many as 50 some years. In reality, the number of students he provides with advice and counseling is much greater. He is regularly approached by many students in the school who request his assistance in scheduling and seek personal counseling and guidance finding internships and job opportunities.

Senior Nina Cohen is one such unofficial advisee, who "can hardly imagine a more deserving candidate" for the advising award. "He's not my official adviser, but given how much academic and professional assistance he has extended to me over the past year, he might as well be," she wrote in a letter supporting San Julian's nomination. "I have been amazed at how seriously he takes his responsibility to help students succeed."

Since 2000, San Julian also has served as faculty honors adviser to wildlife science students enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College. He serves on thesis committees for graduate and undergraduate research and he also recently completed a term as faculty adviser to the Penn State Agricultural Student Council. Last year, he was honored for his long-time service to students with the 2003 School of Forest Resources Outstanding Faculty Award.

Perhaps graduate student Friedaricka Steed--who noted that San Julian refuses to let students give up on themselves and constantly seeks to build up both their skills and their self-esteem--summed up his impact on students in the School of Forest Resources best: "Dr. San Julian has placed countless blocks in the foundations built beneath students," she wrote. "He has truly earned this award."

San Julian, who joined Penn State in 1995, notes that watching students succeed in life is reward enough, but he concedes that it is gratifying to be recognized by students." I was honored and humbled by the recognition," he says. "Helping students be successful in their chosen professions is the goal of the faculty in the college."