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May 21, 2004
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Nat Giustina will be awarded the Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award at the sixth annual Bennys ceremony on June 1.
Giustina has been involved with Oregon State for nearly 70 years. A 1941 graduate in mechanical engineering, Giustina later worked with the OSU Alumni Association, the OSU Foundation and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
He was a driving force in the development and management of Trysting Tree Golf Club, the home course for Oregon State's golf teams. He served as president of the Trysting Tree Golf Club (OSU Foundation) from 1988-97 and has been the director of the club since 1988.
Giustina served as the chairman of the OSU Foundation's golf committee from 1986-97 and has been on the Board of Directors with the Foundation since 1971, including three years as president from 1979-81.
He served on the Oregon State University Board of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1967-81 and has been a major contributor to many OSU athletics venue construction projects. In 1949, he purchased men's basketball season tickets in the family name, and the family still maintains the exact same seats in Gill Coliseum today.
After graduating from Oregon State, Giustina moved back to the Eugene-Springfield area to work in the family's lumber business, which he managed from 1948 until his retirement in 1985.
Giustina received the Distinguished Service Award from OSU in 1990 and was honored with the Alumni Association's E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 1983.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is named after the late Martin Chaves, who was a four-year letterman in football in the 1940s and captain of the 1942 Rose Bowl team. The former president of what is now known as the Beaver Athletic Student Fund (1985-86) was an influential booster in various fundraising activities. Former recipients of the Chaves Award include Dee Andros, Bert Babb, Paul Valenti and Sue Poorman.
