Many Honors College students know him as the name that appears daily in their e-mail inboxes, but Scott Vaughn has been helping students plan their academic career for the past 35 years.

Vaughn, the assistant director of the Honors College, will retire Friday.

"It's very rewarding, advising is a lot like teaching in certain respects," Vaughn said. "I have taught high school and always enjoyed working with students."

Honors College Director Ronald Fisher said Vaughn's top priority has always been his students.

"Scott Vaughn has been incredibly student-oriented," Fisher said. "As an adviser, he's always interested in helping students figure out what it is they want to do and help them figure out the best academic program for them."

Vaughn said some of the most memorable moments in the time he's been at MSU have been coordinating a convocation for major award winners, coordinating incoming classes of freshmen and helping organize the first freshmen orientation programs.

Because Vaughn has been at the college for so many years he is a good resource for new staff, said Bess German, fellow assistant director of the college.

"He is a great historian of Honors College information and is able to remember things about students 20 years ago and a year ago," German said. "He's worked with countless students over the course of many years and leaves a legacy of great student-adviser relationships."

Vaughn said the years he's spent working with honors students has allowed him to see how they have changed over these past 35 years.

"Student attitudes about social issues seem to run in cycles," Vaughn said. "When I first came here, most students I knew were quite liberal politically, and that's changed over time.

"In terms of what drives students, I don't see a difference between students then and now."

Fisher said Vaughn is the person everyone in the college depends on to get information out to students.

"Students started getting so many e-mails from him that they started setting the spam blocker against his name because it is so well known," Fisher said.

Despite all the time he has spent at MSU, Vaughn said he is going to enjoy retirement.

"I'm going to read the stack of books and watch a lot of movies," Vaughn said. "I'm also going to renew my efforts in genealogy."