Graduate student mentoring by Lawrence A. Crium

Abstract

For a period in excess of 55 years, I have had the opportunity and privilege to serve as an advisor to over 50 students at various levels of their academic instruction and development, particularly at the graduate and postgraduate level. Many of my students have achieved noted success in their careers and have served as Society Presidents, as Deans of Engineering schools, and Directors of Government Labs. Having no established approach to student mentorship, this success has been one of selecting good students with a potential for success in any field and providing them with an opportunity to develop their own careers. Indeed, my style has been one of “benign neglect,” if any. Nevertheless, I will attempt in this lecture to describe what I see is an approach that has resulted in successful career development for my students.