Gary Novak has come full circle with his career in higher education since joining the California State University, Stanislaus Department of Psychology faculty 36 years ago – professor, department chair, and Founding Dean of the College of Human and Health Sciences.

As Novak prepares to retire at the end of December, he takes great satisfaction in the opportunities he has had to help establish academic programs and to create a new college that is an important cornerstone of the University. Having had a distinguished career as a Psychology Professor, Novak accepted the Founding Dean position three years ago and was in on the planning for creation of the college for a year before that.

“What I am most proud of is the cooperative spirit among the faculty and staff across departments and programs,” Novak said in a recent letter to colleagues. “This spirit has produced a number of accomplishments, some very visible and other not so visible but yet real.”

In 1973, Novak accepted the opportunity to help shape the then 13-year-old Stanislaus State College at a starting annual salary of $9,900 and played a key role in developing groundbreaking Psychology programs. The New Jersey native developed special education and behavioral analysis programs that became nationally accredited, helped secure a grant to establish the University’s first Child Development Center as its first director at Beulah Covenant Church in Turlock, and served as Psychology Department Chair twice.

The products of those programs and a long teaching career are the many students who have gone on to successful careers in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and teaching, he noted with a sense of pride. His efforts were recognized with the 1989-90 CSU Stanislaus Outstanding Professor Award, which he describes as a high honor.

Novak has continued to teach Psychology classes since becoming Founding Dean and would like to continue teaching, possibly in Italy as part of his travel plan for retirement. His other retirement plans call for spending time traveling with his wife, Susan, a retired Stanislaus County librarian, writing some articles and books, and tinkering with his 1967 Alfa Romeo automobile.