At the annual Retirement and Recognition program held during May at the Maxwell Theatre, Julian Veal, business office, was honored with the Employee of the Year Award from the university's Staff Council.

Veal came to work at Augusta State in September 1998 as a student accounts manager. He previously served with the U.S. Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site and as a systems analyst with East Mississippi Community College. In his career, he also served as data processing manager at Shorter College in Rome, GA. He has three daughters and is married to Donna Wear, associate professor in the Department of Biology. In his spare time, Veal likes to go camping and boating as well as helping his wife with research projects.

The nominees for the annual award were all previous winners of semester or term awards. Veal was spring semester award winner, fall award recipient was Sherry Moore, degree program assistant in the College of Business Administration, and the summer 2000 award recipient was Dianna Barnes, administrative specialist II in the Department of Nursing. Veal received a plaque and a monetary award at the ceremony.