SU Letterwinners of Distinction (alphabetical listing)
SU Letterwinners of Distinction (chronological listing)

Six individuals and one legendary Syracuse University athletics team will take center stage for the 'Night of Distinction'. Syracuse University will honor six former student-athletes and individuals associated with the athletics program representing various sports and eras of Orange athletics as LetterWinners of Distinction and the 1959 National Championship football team will be honored as the Team of Distinction. The celebration will be Friday, October 2 at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino. The 2009 honorees include John H. Dean '59 (lacrosse), Beth (Hart) Foederer '89 (cross country/track & field), Harry Robert Greenwald '51 (track & field manager), Sean Kerins '84 (Basketball), James P. Lee '75 (basketball) and Donald D. Lowe (Honorary), in addition to the 1959 Orange football squad. Syracuse University alumnus and NBC award-winning sportscaster Bob Costas will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

“Once again we open the doors to an extraordinary set of individuals who have distinguished themselves by their impact on sport and society,” said director of athletics Dr. Daryl Gross. “We welcome this fine class of LetterWinners of Distinction who deservedly shall be honored with the highest regard. Syracuse University and Syracuse athletics is truly better because of their accomplishments.”

Tickets are $100 per person or $1,000 for a table of 10. A reception begins at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m. To purchase tickets, please contact Henry Wildhack, Executive Director of the Varsity Club (hwildhac@syr.edu or 315-443-4370).

John H. Dean, 1959 (Lacrosse)
A three-year lacrosse letterwinner, John Dean played for the Orange from 1957 to 1959. Dean earned a Bachelor's degree in paper science engineering from the State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry School and a Master's degree in industrial management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He has held a number of senior management positions throughout his career, including vice president of international marketing for the Crown Zellerbach Corporation and vice president of operations for Senco Products, Inc. in Ohio. Dean was president of Emglo Air Compressor, a division of DeWalt Power Tools, and of Hastings Machine Company. Dean also served as the division general manager for the Crown Zellerbach Corporation in Missouri, and was chair of the board of directors for the International Staple, Nails, Tools Association (ISANTA).

As an undergraduate, Dean was also a four-year member of the University marching band, a two-year participant in the Chapel Choir, and the was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and served as Intrafraternity Council vice president. A lifetime member of the Varsity Club of Syracuse University, Dean has been involved in many community activities. He served as chair for the YMCA board of directors and was a church youth group advisor. Dean remains active in a number of organizations, including the Mid Missouri Chapter of SCORE “Counselors to America's Small Business.” He is president of the Voluntary Action Center board of directors in Columbia, Mo., a member of the Columbia Chorale, and a board member of the Missouri Foundation for Medical Research and Olivet Christian Church. He coaches boys lacrosse at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia. At the University of Missouri, Dean chairs the Industrial Advisory Board in the Department of Chemical Engineering and is chapter advisor for Delta Tau Delta. He was honored as the university's Greek Advisor of the Year in 2008.

Beth (Hart) Foederer, 1989 (Cross Country/Track & Field)
Track & field standout Beth Foederer earned All-BIG EAST honors in the 10,000 meters in 1989 and was a top-five runner for the Orange cross country team, one year after earning NJCAA Track & Field All-America honors at Mohawk Valley College. A three-time Academic All-American, Foederer graduated from Syracuse in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and earned a Master's degree in manufacturing engineering in 1995.

After graduation, Foederer joined the Black Clawson division of Davis Standard, where she worked for 19 years, in a variety of positions from design engineer to senior process engineer. In 2008, she became part of an engineering consultancy for the converting equipment industry. Foederer has authored more than a dozen technical papers and contributes www.extrusioncoatingblog.com. In January 2009, she became a licensed professional engineer.

Foederer continues to train and compete at the Masters level. She has run in four Boston Marathons and won her first marathon, the Century Marathon, in 3:25, in 2008. In addition to local races, Foederer runs two marathons a year and plans to run the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World in January 2010.

Foederer is a founding member of the Oswego County Runaholics, which encourages new runners to develop a life-long love of running and healthy habits. The group co-sponsors the Century Marathon, where Foederer serves as a training volunteer. She also volunteers for road races and runs to raise money for local charities. From 1990 to 2002, she was a member of the Hannibal Community Band, which played concerts at nursing homes, hospitals and charity benefits.

A lifetime member of the Varsity Club, she serves as third vice president and has been on its Board of Directors since 1997.

Harry Greenwald, 1951 (Track & Field)
Harry Greenwald, who earned a varsity letter in track as a manager in 1948-49, was assistant Class Marshall for the School of Business at his graduation in 1951. As a Syracuse University undergraduate president of the Professional Advertising Fraternity (ADS), chaired several committees of the Winter Carnival and other Intrafraternity Council events, was publicity director for the yearbook and was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.

After service in the U.S. Navy as a weapons officer on aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser that was the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, Greenwald joined a company that was a pioneer in the plastics industry. He was with that company when it developed the first plastic gears, medical devices and experimented with plastic golf shoe cleats and cores for golf balls.

Greenwald started his own businesses in Chicago and published the first magazine for plastics distributors. He helped develop the first plastic gasoline in-line filter for gasoline engines, the plastic-coated pull cord for buses, supplied experimental material for the first plastic tennis rackets, helped develop the first protective helmet for ice hockey, developed the first hobby kits using plastics and invented the first computer numbering system for plastic distributors. He is a senior member of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

In Chicago, Greenwald served on the Harbor Modification Committee and local industry development programs and has served on the Illinois Small Business Council of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the board of directors of the National Association of Plastics Distributors, and on federal committees that developed standards for high performance plastic tubing. He chaired the education committee of the Plastics Pioneers Association and was a counselor with the Small Business Association.

In 2007, he was instrumental in establishing creating the Plastics History and Artifacts collection at the Syracuse University Library, the largest such research collection in the country.

Sean Kerins, 1984 (Basketball)
A four-year letterwinner, Sean Kerins played for Syracuse from 1981-1984 before graduating with honors in 1984 with a Bachelor's of Science in industrial engineering. Kerins later earned his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

During his SU basketball career, Kerins scored 851 points and had 433 rebounds, including 11.0 points and six rebounds per game as a senior captain in 1983-1984, during which the Orange advanced to the Sweet 16. In 1984, Kerins was drafted by the New Jersey Nets.

In 1986, he started a four-year career with General Motors before joining Coopers & Lybrand Consulting, where he became the managing associate for the company after seven years. In 1996, he moved to EMC Corporation, where he spent 10 years in several different leadership positions in sales, marketing and professional services. In 2001, he became the vice president of EMC, which led him to numerous assignments in Asia, Europe and North America.

Kerins returned to his alma mater in 2006 as an associate athletics director for the Orange Club. He spearheaded the capital campaign to establish the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Facility, and also assisted in securing more than $10 million in associated gifts and commitments to Syracuse athletics. He was also the analyst for the ISP Sports Network men's basketball radio broadcasts. In 2007, he moved to become vice president and general manager of Arrow Electronics Storage Group.

Along with being a lifetime member of the Varsity Club, he is a supporter of the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 2005, he was a Habitat for Humanity volunteer in Flagler County, Fla., and he annually supports and participates in the Don Hengel Memorial Golf Tournament, which benefits the catholic school system of the Southern Tier of New York.

James Lee, 1975 (Basketball)
A three-year letterwinner, Jim Lee finished fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage as a sophomore in 1972-73. As a junior, he led the team in assists. He was captain of the 1974-75 team, the first at SU to reach the NCAA Final Four. Lee was a Helms Foundation All-American, an ECAC All-East All-Star and was on the NCAA Eastern Regional and Final Four All-Tournament Teams. He was the 1975 NCAA Tournament's leading scorer and winner of the Lew Andreas Most Valuable Player Award at SU. He graduated in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and education and was drafted by the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. He later signed with the ABA's San Antonio Spurs.

Lee taught high school math for three years in Syracuse while playing semipro basketball in the late 1970s. He was a partner in three area businesses and a licensed real estate broker during the 1980s. For the past 19 years, Lee has been involved in the energy business, operating out of Syracuse. He is currently a regional marketing manager of wholesale fuels for Noco Energy Corp.

Lee's honors include the Section Four Hall of Fame (1981), Vic Hanson Medal of Excellence (1984), SU's All Century Basketball Team (2000), Pastime Athletic Club Sportsman of the Year (2000), Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame (2002) and Onondaga County Veterans Council Humanitarian of the Year (2007).

His community involvement includes the Kidney Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Pastime Athletic Club and Geddes Little League. He chairs the Harold Lee Open, a golf tournament in honor of his father that raises money to benefit disabled American veterans throughout the country. He is also a volunteer at Francis House in Syracuse and a trustee of the Eagle Association of Central New York. Lee is a lifetime member of the Varsity Club.

Donald D. Lowe (Honorary)
As the coordinator of sports medicine at Syracuse University for 25 years, Don Lowe was a mentor to dozens of Syracuse University athletic trainers who have gone onto successful careers in the NBA, NFL, NHL, USA Basketball, ESPN X Games and elsewhere, while many of his staff members have received prestigious awards. Lowe left the University in 2000 to become the director of sports medicine at Georgia Tech and in 2003 , he created Sports Medicine Management Consultants.

Lowe was recognized for his dedication to sports medicine with the National Athletic Trainers' Association's 1987 College Athletic Trainer of the Year Award and 1995 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. He won the 1983 NYS Athletic Trainers' Association's Thomas Sheehan Award and the 1991 Eastern Athletic Trainers' Association's Cramer Award. He was inducted into both the NYS Athletic Trainers' Association's Hall of Fame and the National Athletic Trainers' Association's Hall of Fame in 1999, and the South Eastern Athletic Trainers' Association's Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 1986, Lowe founded and served as executive director of Onondaga Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, the first sports medicine clinic in the Syracuse area, was active in the National Kidney Foundation of Central New York and served as volunteer host athletic trainer for numerous Empire State Games.

He was athletic trainer for the 1983 Pan American Games men's basketball team and on the U.S. Olympic Committee's athletic training staff for the 1992 Games in Barcelona. In 1992, he formed the College Athletic Trainers Society and served as the executive director and was instrumental in the certification of athletic trainers by NYS Department of Education in the late 1990s.

The athletic training area in the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center will be named the Donald and Mary Lowe Sports Medicine Facility.

1959 Football Team
The 1959 Orange football team won the University's first national championship in the sport. The top-ranked squad in the nation, Syracuse capped a perfect 10-0 regular season with a 23-14 victory against second-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Head Coach Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder was named the 1959 National Coach of the Year and in 1982 was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The best season in school history included regular season wins against Kansas (35-21), Maryland (29-0), Navy (32-6), Holy Cross (42-6), West Virginia (44-0), Pittsburgh (35-0), Penn State (20-18), Colgate(71-0), Boston University (46-0), and UCLA (36-8).

Syracuse led the nation in 18 statistical categories, including first downs (240), margin of offense over defense (355.3 yards per game), scoring (39.0 points per game), total offense (451.5), total defense (96.2), rushing offense (313.6), and rushing defense (19.3). The SU defense stifled its opponents, holding five of them scoreless, and allowing only 193 yards rushing and 59 points on the year.

The 1959 roster was filled with talented players, including first-team All-Americans Roger Davis, who was also named UPI Lineman of the Year, Fred Mautino and Bob Yates and All-East selections Ernie Davis, Art Baker and Ger Schwedes, in addition to Roger Davis, Mautino, Yates. Fourteen members of the team went on to play professional football.

As a sophomore, Ernie Davis set a Syracuse record with an average of 7.0 yards per carry and scored 10 touchdowns. He was named the Cotton Bowl's Most Valuable Player after recording eight carries for 57 yards and one touchdown, in addition to an 87-yard touchdown reception. In 1961, Ernie Davis became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

Six members of the team have been named Letterwinners of Distinction: Baker, John Brown, Ernie Davis, Charles Heck, Schwedes and Gerry Skonieczki.