Fresno State vice president Lamas recognized for service to national organization

Dr. Frank Lamas, vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Fresno State, was selected as the recipient of the 2018 Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service to NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education).

The award, presented each year in recognition of members who are doing outstanding work in the student affairs profession, is the equivalent of the organization’s lifetime achievement award. Lamas and the other national award winners will be honored March 3 through 7 at NASPA’s annual conference in Philadelphia.

In his three-plus years at Fresno State, Lamas has demonstrated his commitment to improving the student experience and creating a sense of belonging for all students. He helped launch the Clothing Closet to provide students with professional attire, expand the Cross Cultural and Gender Center, launch the Money Management Center, grow the Student Cupboard food and hygiene pantry and launch the Dream Success Center.

“It is clear that Dr. Lamas has a passion for not only student success, but also to the field of student affairs,” said Dr. Colin Stewart, Fresno State’s associate dean of Student Involvement and one of the nominators for this award. “His commitment to NASPA is inspiring, and he is more than deserving of this lifetime achievement award.”

The award is named for Turner, a past chair of the NASPA board (1958-59) and a former chief student affairs officer at the University of Illinois. It honors a NASPA member who has served in leadership roles at the state, regional, national or international levels of NASPA, and who has had, at minimum, 10 continuous years of NASPA membership. Each recipient has brought honor and dignity to the student affairs profession and to NASPA as an association.

Before joining Fresno State in July 2014, Lamas was vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Texas at Arlington for 10 years. He also served as interim vice president and associate vice president for student affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York for over 10 years.