After an exceptional 34-year career at NDSU, longtime NDSU administrator Prakash Mathew has been selected to receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
Longtime NDSU administrator Prakash Mathew has been selected to receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. He will be recognized during the 10 a.m. ceremony of NDSU’s commencement, scheduled for Saturday, May 15, at the Fargodome.
Mathew had an exceptional 34-year career at NDSU, serving as vice president for student affairs from 2006 until his retirement in 2014. He has been associated with the university since 1976, except for a four-year absence when he was director of Residence Life at Mankato State University.
"I am very honored and humbled to receive this news,” said Mathew, who grew up in India. “Any success I have achieved in life is the result of standing on the shoulders of the giants who were great mentors in my life. I came to this country in 1971 with a suitcase to pursue my education following God's plan. He called me to pursue opportunities, ‘to act with justice, to love tenderly and to serve one another, and walk humbly with my God.’ Everything else is history. What a blessing."
At NDSU, he supervised more than 20 departments and programs that included more than 350 staff members and about 800 student employees each year. He also was highly active in Bison Athletics – he chaired the NCAA transition to Division I certification process in 2006 and served as interim director of athletics following his retirement.
“Prakash focused heavily on the successes of all of those around him, most notably including the thousands of students and staff he worked with or served every year,” said Provost Margaret Fitzgerald and Chris Ray, head of the School of Education, in a nomination letter. “Students, alumni and the staff who worked with him regularly comment on the profound impact he has had in their own personal and professional lives, even years after his retirement.”
Mathew also provided leadership in the student affairs profession at the state, regional and national levels. He was a regional vice president for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and served on the organization’s national board of directors and as a member of the NASPA Foundation. In addition, he was a member of the Executive Committee for the Council of Student Affairs for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
“Prakash was always in a leadership role in NASPA wherever his immense and varied talents were needed,” said Gwendolyn Jordon Dungy, NASPA executive director emeritus. “What higher education and our communities need now are more leaders like Prakash Mathew who serve unselfishly with compassion, skill and dignity.”
University personnel who worked with Mathew praise him as a skilled administrator and creative financial manager who always put relationships first.
“Prakash’s role as vice president for student affairs at NDSU was one of servant leadership,” said Kate Haugen, retired associate vice president for student affairs, and Laura Oster-Aaland, vice provost for student affairs and enrollment management, in a nomination letter. “He ended many meetings with student and staff with the phrase, ‘What do you need from me? How can I be of service to you?’ This was a heartfelt value for Prakash and he lived this spirit of service in every aspect of the job.”
Among his many honors, Mathew received the NDSU Blue Key Doctor of Service Award in 1996 and the NDSU Athletics Bison Impact Award in 2015. In his profession, he was recognized with several honors from the NASPA, including the Region IV West Distinguished Service Award and the Pillar of the Profession award in 2009, James J. Rhatigan Outstanding Dean Award in 2014 and the Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean in 2015.
In a fitting recognition of his years of service to the institution, an NDSU residence hall is named in his honor – the Mathew Living Learning Center.
