Former six-time Penn State All-American Kevin Tan is entering his third season as a full-time assistant coach under Randy Jepson.

After establishing himself as one of the top collegiate gymnasts during his Nittany Lion career, Tan is poised to achieve that lofty status on the international gymnastics stage. In 2007, he took a major step towards that goal with a banner competitive year. Tan built on past successes and emerged as one of the top gymnasts in the United States. Representing the U.S. at the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, Tan helped the team capture fourth place, thereby qualifying the United States for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Individually, competing head-to-head against the world's best performers, he came in fourth in the still rings, placing him in excellent position to claim a spot on the United States Olympic Team.

Tan qualified for the World Gymnastics Championships due in large part to his still rings victory at the 2007 VISA Championships, his second consecutive rings title at the prestigious event. In February, Tan repeated as still rings champion at the 2007 Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev.

Voted as the captain of Team USA for the 2006 World Championships in Denmark in October, Tan competed in four events during the preliminary competition, earning the highest score for the team on both parallel bars and high bar, and was a finalist on the rings.

Tan followed his World Championship performance up by taking the bronze medal on rings at the 2006 DKB Pokal World Cup in Germany.

"Kevin has had an incredible run the last couple of years as a competitor and that makes him a better coach," said Penn State head coach Randy Jepson. "He is able to see things from both sides. Having one of the world's elite competitors in our gym every day is a tremendous benefit. He brings a lot of wisdom, competitive experience, and thought process into his coaching and that, in turn, has helped become a better gymnast. It's a win-win both ways."

As a result of his extensive gymnastics accomplishments, Tan has gained a measure of fame, opening doors to other opportunities. Tan was featured in the November issue of Men's Fitness magazine. He also performed on The Hilton Family Skating & Gymnastics Spectacular, a national television event that brought together stars from two of the most popular Olympic sports.

A member of Penn State's 2004 NCAA championship team, Tan was the Nittany Lions' first back-to-back NCAA champion on the still rings, earning titles in 2003 and 2004. He also earned All-American honors on the parallel bars (2002) and high bar (2003) during his standout college career.

During his senior year in 2004, the Fremont, Calif. native was one of the premier collegiate gymnasts in the nation, becoming a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award. He was an all-conference honoree, winning both the still rings and parallel bars crowns at the 2004 Big Ten Championships. His still rings title was his third-consecutive conference championship in the event.