Wally Torian is currently the assistant dean for Student Development for the Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOF) in the School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey. His career at Rutgers began in 1976 as counselor with the Rutgers College EOF Program. After a series of promotions Mr. Torian became the Director and Assistant Dean of the Rutgers College EOF Program in 1996.
Under Dean Torian’s leadership the Rutgers College EOF program was a statewide leader in student retention and graduation. He credits his staff with creative and strategic programming and a continuing commitment that insured the success of their EOF students.
During his professional career at Rutgers, Dean Torian has served on numerous university and college committees representing the interests and concerns of EOF and minority undergraduate students. These include the Rutgers College Judicial Affairs Committee, Scholastic Standing Committee, the Bias Prevention Committee, the University Financial Aid Policy Committee and the Paul Robeson Scholarship Committee. He has also guided students as an academic advisor for the James Dickson Carr scholars and as a faculty/staff advisor for the Carr Society. He is a charter member of the Rutgers College EOF honor society, Alpha Pi – the national honor society of Chi Alpha Epsilon.
Dean Torian is one of the founders of the Rutgers’ Black Men’s Collective (BMC) which began as an EOF initiative to establish a support system for undergraduate black males. He served as the advisor to the Rutgers College Paul Robeson Club and the Special Interest Section from 1991 to 1996. On several occasions, he was recognized for his exemplary dedication and service as the club’s advisor.
Dean Torian served on the executive board of the RU African American Alumni Alliance from 1993 to 2002. He held membership in the New Jersey Black Social Workers Association – the Middlesex County Chapter for four years. He also served for three years as the sector representative for the Rutgers University/NJIT/UMDNJ New Jersey EOF Professional Association. All of Dean Torian’s leadership roles have been characterized by his singular reasoned approach to problem solving, his generosity of time, his boundless energy and his unswerving commitment to excellence.
Dean Torian was a member of the first class of EOF students at Rutgers College, where he graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He earned a Master’s of Social Work from the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work and has completed coursework in the Rutgers Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Higher Education Studies. After graduating from Rutgers College, his first professional job was as a social services coordinator for the Grandview Academy, a residential facility for troubled juveniles.
Dean Torian exerts leadership among youth well beyond his work at Rutgers. He is a staunch and firm believer in community service, civic leadership and volunteerism. He has been a leader in making the positive difference in the lives of young people as illustrated by his membership on the Piscataway Juvenile Conference Committee for three years, a volunteer probation counselor for the Middlesex County Court and a charter member of the Plainfield Optimist Club, a community action program for youth.
Further, he was a mentor for the Plainfield YMCA Big Brother Program for three years, a board member for the New Brunswick Youth Jazz Institute for four years, a member of the Plainfield YMCA Transitional Housing Services Committee for 10 years. For eight years he was a member of Frontiers International – the Plainfield Area Club, an organization committed to community service and civic leadership.
An avid sports enthusiast, Dean Torian has coached community soccer and football teams including three years with the New Brunswick Buddy Young Football League, a young men’s football program. He was an assistant coach for seven years with a semi-professional football team, the New Brunswick Panthers, a role that gave him and opportunity to encourage and inspire a number of young men to begin their college education or to continue and finish their college degrees.
Dean Torian is a member of the Plainfield Police Division Auxiliary Police and Emergency Management Unit and has served as an auxiliary and special officer for 20 years and is still actively involved serving in the position of auxiliary lieutenant. In 2003 he was recognized by the Plainfield Police Benevolent Association Local #19 for his years of service and was awarded the honorary silver life card.
He is an active member of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Plainfield, New Jersey under the august and dynamic leadership of Reverend Gerald Lamont Thomas. At Shiloh he coordinates the Men’s Fellowship Ministry Program and is active on the scholarship and security committee. He is in the final stages of becoming a deacon.
Dean Torian has been married to Karen McLane Torian for 32 years and they have two adult children, one son-in-law and one granddaughter.