Jerrold H. Zar, to honor Max Zar

Jerrold H. Zar established this scholarship to honor his father, Max Zar, who was a civil engineer from 1942 to 1979 with Sargent & Lundy, a Chicago-based firm specializing in electric power-plant engineering. By the time of his retirement, Mr. Zar was a partner in that firm and the manager of its structural department. Mr. Zar graduated from the Amour Institute (now a part of the Illinois Institute of Technology) with a baccalaureate degree in civil engineering. During his career he became a member of several professional societies, including: the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the American Nuclear Society. He died in 2003. Jerrold H. Zar received a B.S. degree in biology from NIU and completed the secondary school teacher certification program. He then attended the University of Illinois where he received an M.S. degree in biology and a Ph.D. degree in zoology. Dr. Zar worked for the NIU Department of Biological Sciences and on a National Science Foundation research project. During his graduate studies he served as a teaching assistant in several undergraduate and graduate biology courses and was awarded graduate fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. After a post-doctoral research appointment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign he joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences at NIU in 1968, becoming assistant professor, then associate professor, then professor. He was appointed Chair of that department in 1978. In 1984, Dr. Zar was appointed Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research and Dean of the Graduate School at NIU, serving until his retirement in 2002. During his professional career, Dr. Zar published two books, more than 50 journal articles and book chapters, and over 60 invited book reviews. He attributes much of success as a scientist and educator to his excellent undergraduate education at NIU.