On Wednesday, March 4, Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Deborah Adishian-Astone was awarded the Fresno Compact’s Harold Haak Award for Educational Excellence for Building Business/Education Partnerships.

The award, named for Dr. Harold Haak, is awarded to an educator for exemplary leadership in promoting business education partnerships. Dr. Haak served as Fresno State President from 1980-91 and was the first executive director of the Fresno Compact.

The Fresno Compact is a coalition of business and community leaders and the area’s school systems, committed to a long-term effort to improve achievement levels and skills of young people graduating from school. Each year, 10 local outstanding businesses involved in business/education partnerships are recognized along with the recipient of the Dr. Harold Haak Award at the Fresno Compact Annual Business Education Shareholders’ Luncheon.

In receiving her award, Adishian-Astone thanked President Joseph I. Castro, the Fresno State Foundation Board of Governors and all of her Fresno State colleagues. She shared memories of working alongside Dr. Haak and how meaningful this award is to her. Described as a woman of vision, passion and heart who has dedicated her career to Fresno State, the award pays tribute to Adishian-Astone's leadership in building collaborative business education partnerships in projects such as the Save Mart Center, Campus Pointe, the Jordan Agricultural Research Center, the Marvillosa senior housing project at Campus Pointe and the recently approved concept of a public-private partnership for the development of the campus’ new central utility plant.

The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union project is another great example of Adishian-Astone's ability to collaboratively and creatively work with business partners and on-campus groups at all levels and make a significant difference for our campus.

Adishian-Astone is a champion for our students and is respected by community and business leaders. She has dedicated her entire career to Fresno State and serves many roles on campus and in the community.

Three Fresno State faculty members were accepted to this year's ELEVATE Fellows cohort with the Center for Minority Serving Institutions.

• Matin Pirouz, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science
• Soua Xiong, assistant professor, Department of Counselor Education and Rehabilitation
• Ana Soltero Lopez, assistant professor, Department of Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education

The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions is hosting its sixth annual early-career faculty training program, ELEVATE (Enriching Learning, Enhancing Visibility & Training Educators).

ELEVATE is a three-day professional development opportunity created specifically to address the unique needs of early-career faculty members at minority serving institutions. Fellows further develop their skills through hands-on workshops and candid discussions that cover topics such as grant writing, developing a research agenda, teaching, mentoring and achieving tenure. Knowledge obtained from ELEVATE helps fellows enhance the visibility of MSIs in national conversations by producing high-quality research and practice.