As he prepares to retire after 10 years as FPU President, D. Merrill Ewert can look back on many honors. But the Harold Haak Award from the Fresno Compact is particularly meaningful.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award, having known Dr. Haak and then being the person who replaced him at Fresno Pacific. He’s a man I have enormous respect for. I’m literally sitting in the chair in which he sat,” said Ewert, who often tells how Haak recruited him and called FPU a “gift to the Valley.”

In deciding to honor educators, Fresno Compact honored Fresno Pacific University President Harold Haak.

The creation of the Harold Haak Business Partnership Educator of the Year Award was announced March 6 during Fresno Compact’s Business-Education Shareholder’s Luncheon. The prize will be given each year to an educator with an outstanding track record of building partnerships between business and education.