Note: This is the 20th article in the CoSIDA Special Awards feature series which is highlighting all 2013 Special Award recipients. All recipients will be honored at the
CoSIDA Convention (June 12-15) in conjunction with the NACDA and Affiliates Convention at Orlando's Marriott World Center.
See the full list of recipients and features schedule.
by Chuck Yahng
Maryville University Assistant AD for Communications
A trailblazer is defined as someone who is a pioneer in any field of endeavor.
Of the previous 12 recipients of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Trailblazer Award, nine are women and three are men. Two are African-American. By nature of the award, all are true pioneers in the field of athletic media relations. In setting a new frontier for diversity, however, this year's Trailblazer recipient -
Lawrence Fan - is the first of Chinese descent.
Fan, who has served as the sports information director at San Jose State University for more than 30 years, adds to a remarkable career as the recipient of the Trailblazer Award. It will be presented during the 2013 CoSIDA Convention's Special Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 14 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, Fla.
The Trailblazer Award is presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.
“It is an honor and humbling to receive CoSIDA’s Trailblazer Award,” Fan said. “Every recipient is a giant and luminary in our profession. Their work and standing in college athletics are a standard for today’s professionals to emulate and take to the next level in the future. I take great pride being a member of CoSIDA. Today’s CoSIDA is much more diverse thanks to the previous award winners. Not just gender, racial or ethnic diversity, but also diversity of action, thought and philosophy.
"Lawrence is most deserving of this prestigious award,” San Jose State director of athletics Gene Bleymaier said. “His dedication to student-athletes and coaches coupled with his commitment to the highest standards of journalism excellence during his long and storied career are second to none. He is a model for the profession."
Fan made organization history as the first member of Chinese descent named to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame when he was enshrined at the 2012 Convention in St. Louis. Additionally during last year’s workshop, he earned the organization’s Arch Ward Award, which goes to a CoSIDA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports communications from the university division (Division I), and who by his or her activities has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.
In 2007, Lawrence was the recipient of the CoSIDA 25 Year Service Award and served on the CoSIDA Board as an at-large member from 2007 to 2009.
A native of San Francisco, Fan has attended every Workshop since 1978 after he began his career as sports information director at Frostburg State College in 1977. While completing his master’s degree at Western Illinois University, he served as a volunteer in the sports information office working for CoSIDA Hall of Famer Larry Heimburger. From 1978 to 1980, Fan was SID at La Salle University (was a College at the time).
“Lawrence Fan has made an impact on every generation of CoSIDA members,” Union College sports information director Eric McDowell said. “He welcomes job seekers into our ‘family’ and educates them about professionalism, appearance, interviews and expectations. He finds the right fit for those of us looking for people as well as the people looking for positions. Established professionals have benefited from his guidance and friendship in helping to remain ‘old school’ yet adapt to our ever changing technology in our profession.
“His service to the board did not end with his term, as he continues to provide wisdom and thoughts through his experiences to presidents and other board members each year,” McDowell said. “We are all truly blessed that Lawrence chose this profession, as we all have benefited from his career path.”
At every workshop since 1994, Fan has coordinated the Job Seekers Committee. With the assistance of committee members from all three NCAA Divisions and the NAIA, he organizes and manages job fair activities. Fan initiated and managed an email service for more than 10 years that today evolved into the popular CoSIDA Career Center email blast – the communications tool keeping the membership informed about job vacancies and movement within the profession. Numerous athletic communications professionals at a wide range of levels owe their positions to his work and dedication to the Job Seekers Committee.
“I could go on and on about Lawrence’s accomplishments, but what I really want you to know is about his huge heart and compassion for CoSIDA members,” The Sage Colleges sports information director Ann King said.
“Lawrence Fan is one of the first people that I met at the 1988 CoSIDA convention in Kansas City. For me as a new SID and sort of lost first-time attendee, he was the welcoming ambassador for the profession and for CoSIDA through his role with the job seekers and rookie committees. He took a genuine interest in helping me with advice, suggestions and advocacy for me. His passion for helping his fellow sports information professionals is a gift he has shared for decades and is a gift I know I continue to treasure.
“He has always been supportive, enthusiastic, and interested in contributing to my success,” King said. “His ability to connect the new and old faces of CoSIDA is a legacy he continues to pass along and he has touched so many people and made such a difference. I am only one of hundreds of SID’s that Lawrence has supported throughout his career; he has been a constant advocate for SID’s. When Lawrence Fan is in your corner, he is in your corner for life!”
Fan is respected throughout the Bay Area as a consummate professional with a tremendous work ethic and dedication to doing the best job possible for student-athletes and administration at SJSU.
In addition, he has been a mentor to numerous SIDs and other media professionals either in sports information or corporate communications. He has been the primary contact for football and men’s basketball as well as many other Spartan sports during his tenure at SJSU. In addition to his duties at San Jose State, he has worked at many NCAA Basketball Tournaments in the West. He was the media coordinator for the 1991 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, the 1997 NCAA Men’s Basketball West Regional and the 1999 Women’s Soccer College Cup.
“Every CoSIDA member is a trailblazer in his or her own way,” Fan said. “We’re given the assignment and responsibility to service our institution, athletics department, coaches, staff and student-athletes, the media and the public. With the resources available to us, the trails we blaze may start out as dirt paths, but evolve into two-lane roads and reach full fruition as coast-to-coast interstates.
“This award belongs to San Jose State, La Salle, Frostburg State and Western Illinois respectively, for standing tall in the area of diversity,” Fan said. “It belongs to the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and media members with whom I join on the occupational trail daily. And, they share it with my family that supported a very rewarding career.”