A Well-Deserved Honor For The New Guy

 

Maybe Jon Kurian has an awful lot of gray hair these days.

It doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter that he's worked here for 20 years now.

To TigerBlog, he'll always be the "New Guy."

Back when Kurian started in the business office, there were quite a few people here with the same first name. As such, he became "Jon the New Guy" and then eventually just the "New Guy."

To that, you can now add "Lorin Maurer Award winner the New Guy."

The official wording of Lorin Maurer Award is this:

Awarded to that member of the Princeton Athletics family who best reflects the passion, dedication and infectious enthusiasm that defined Lorin Maurer’s character and her inspiring impact on colleagues and friends. Awarded in the memory of Lorin Maurer h78, 1978-2009.

Kurian is a very, very worthy recipient. In a department that has seen, restructurings, turnover, changes at all levels, Jon Kurian has remained as much a constant as anyone. His common denominator for all 20 of those years? His passion, dedication and infectious enthusiasm, with an emphasis on the last of those three. 

Of all the people TB has met in his life, at Princeton or anywhere else, Jon Kurian is in the Top 5 of being upbeat. He always seems to be in a good place, and if he's not, he doesn't let on. He works hard and takes what he does here very seriously, but he also knows how to have fun as much as anyone who has worked here in TB's years.

His defining characteristic is his deep laugh, which comes out regularly no matter the situation. He's never met a bad shot in lunchtime basketball that he wasn't willing to take, but he always laughs about it when it inevitably goes awry. He can laugh with the older generation and the younger generation of Princeton Athletics' staff. 

Need someone to dress as Santa? He's in. Want to go to see Jimmy Buffett? He'll never say no. He's the kind of person you definitely want to have on your side. 

Kurian was presented with his award at the final staff meeting of the year, which was last week. He spoke briefly about Lorin, who worked with Princeton's Athletic Friends' Groups before she tragically was killed in a plane crash in 2009 at the age of 30.

As you know from reading this space, TigerBlog always remembers Lorin on the anniversary of her death, which is Feb. 12. He has done so every year since it happened.

In those 14 years since, there have been a lot of people who have come and gone here. The numbers of those remaining who knew Lorin have dwindled considerably, to the point where she is just a name on an award to most. 

To those who knew her, including TB, she remains very much a part of this place. Kurian certainly remembers her.

In his words after he was given the award, he mentioned Lorin's spirit. He referenced TB, how each year he tells the story of how Lorin would walk by his office and, if she had nothing to say, would just smile.

It was a moment that made Kurian clearly emotional. It's one thing to win an award; it's another to win one named for a dear friend of yours who died so horribly young. 

Kurian came here somewhere around 2003. At the time, he was an intern. In fact, he needed a 350-hour internship to fulfill a course requirement (at Syracuse), and TB remembers the conversation about how it would take 400 hours to get him to the point where he could do 350 hours and did the department need a "350-hour pain in the butt?"

As it turned out, Kurian was brought on for those 350 hours. When they ended, he stayed, and nobody told him to leave. At some point, presumably, he started to get paid. He's still here today. 

When Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack read out Kurian's name as this year's Maurer Award winner, TB smiled. He was happy to see that Kurian get the recognition that he has earned so clearly through everything he's done here. 

As TB said, Kurian is a constant in an ever-changing place — with an infectious enthusiasm that is just that, infectious, and inspirational.