Florida International University is taking significant steps to honor FIU's longest-serving employee, Stephen M. Fain. The school has now instituted the Fain Medal and will recognize faculty who have advanced the university's mission.
Fain was hired at FIU in 1971, before the university opened itself for business. Through an endowment, Fain's legacy will live on in the South Florida college.
The endowment will fund an annual award to recognize outstanding performance by an FIU faculty member in advancing the university's mission and encouraging the continued development of exceptional initiatives. Each awardee will be presented with the Fain Medal at Faculty Convocation and receive $10,000. Additionally, award recipients will have their names displayed on the Fain Fellows plaques in the Steven and Dorothea Green and Glenn Hubert libraries.
Fain's son, Peter Fain stated, "My father’s dedication to helping students, faculty and the surrounding communities grow and advance aligns perfectly with what the university stands for. We are excited to mark his retirement in a way that perpetuates his beliefs and to thank FIU for the opportunities it has provided him and our family. For more than 51 years he was a role model to us and to those who worked alongside him at FIU. His commitment, compassion and loyalty to FIU showed in everything he did both on and off the FIU campus."
In 2004, he earned the FIU Distinguished Service Medallion, and the next year he received a Torch Award from the FIU Alumni Association. He was named professor emeritus in 2006 and is the founding director of FIU's faculty and staff Ignite fundraising campaign, which he continues to serve as a volunteer.
