Twitter: @LawrenceFanSJSU
CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee Lawrence Fan worked in sports information and media relations at San José State University from July 1980 to his death in February 2022. Since 2019, he was the associate athletics director for football communications and special projects.
Fan first joined the Spartans as the sports information director (SID) for men's athletics. When the men's and women's athletics departments merged in 1987, he assumed the duties of SID for the entire program. He has served the Bay Area media in many capacities including arranging interviews for all Spartan athletes as well as the spokesman for San Jose State Athletics.
He was the primary contact for football and did the same for many other Spartan sports during his tenure. He coordinated the Heisman Trophy campaign for former Spartan quarterback Mike Perez during the 1987 season. Fan also coordinated all publicity for the three women's golf NCAA Championships (1987, 1989, 1992). He handled all the publicity for the 1996 men's basketball team that won the Big West Tournament and played top-seeded Kentucky in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
During his tenure at San José State, Fan worked many NCAA Championships. He was the media coordinator for the 1991 NCAA Men's Golf Championships and worked the 1999 and 2000 Women's Soccer College Cup. He served as the media coordinator for the 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball West Regional at HP Pavilion and assisted with many other men's basketball West Regionals, serving as press room monitor and many other positions.
A member of CoSIDA since 1978, Fan made organizational history as the first Chinese American enshrined in the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2012. He also received the prestigious Arch Ward Award that goes to a CoSIDA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information, and who by his or her activities has brought dignity and prestige to the profession. In 2013, Fan was honored with the Trailblazer Award by CoSIDA, presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the profession and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.
In 2017, he received the organization's President's Award for "exemplary service and leadership within the organization's committee structure." Fan served the organization from 1994 to 2017 as chair of the Job Seekers Committee. With the assistance of committee members from all three NCAA Divisions and the NAIA, he organized and managed job fair activities at the annual convention and occasionally assigns topics pertaining to on-the-job activities for small group discussions. He started and managed what is now the CoSIDA Career Center email blast that kept the membership informed about job vacancies and movement within the profession.
Fan was a mentor to many interns who have passed through the San Jose State Sports Information Office. Included in the list are Phil Simon, former San Jose SaberCats Media Relations Director; Hung P. Tsai, CCAA Director of Championships; Jen Heisel, formerly with San Diego State Athletics Media Relations; Richard Stern, San Diego State Athletics Media Relations; Brian Blank, former CS Stanislaus SID; Kimberly Cianci, Google; Reggie Burton, Mandalay Resort Group; Sarah Molasky, formerly performed in the Le Reve musical at Wynn Hotel; Dave Girrard, former Pacific Lutheran University SID; and Chris Freshour, former General Manager of the Bakersfield Blaze.
He is the second San Jose State sports information director to serve on the CoSIDA board of directors. Nordy Jensen, the Spartans' SID from 1965 to 1968 and later the public relations director for the Western Athletic Conference from 1972 through 1985, was president for the 1984-85 academic year.
Prior to accepting the San Jose State sports information director's position, Fan was the sports information director at Frostburg State College in 1977 and at La Salle College from 1978 to 1980. He also was a volunteer in the Western Illinois University sports information office in 1978 while completing his master's degree in athletic administration.
Besides his San Jose State Athletics responsibilities, he served on the board of directors for the San Jose Sports Authority and the National Football Foundation's Northern California chapter.