Jan. 12, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
The 2011 Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Chuck Lennon ’61, ’62 M.A. (baseball), the Notre Dame Monogram Club announced on Wednesday.
A member of the Notre Dame community for 51 years, Lennon has served as the executive director of the University’s Alumni Association since 1981. He will retire on June 30, 2011, after 30 years of service to the more than 128,000 members of the organization.
Lennon will receive the Moose Krause Award from the Monogram Club at the organization’s annual dinner on Apr. 16 in the Joyce Center.
“As Chuck Lennon puts the finishing touches on an outstanding career with Our Lady’s University, we find it fitting to bestow him with the highest honor the Monogram Club can provide,” executive director Beth Hunter said. “In addition to the incredible legacy Chuck has built with the Alumni Association, he has been a great friend to the Monogram Club and an exceptional member of our organization during his tenure at Notre Dame.”
Under Lennon’s leadership, the Alumni Association has earned a national reputation for innovation in programming. It was among the first to offer continuing education programming—including the Hesburgh Lecture Series and Excellence in Teaching Conference—and to initiate community service programs that have been emulated throughout American higher education. Yale and Stanford Universities are among those with community service programs modeled on Notre Dame’s.
Lennon also led in the creation of the Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, and Native American alumni groups and expanded the roles for women, senior and Young Alumni, and international graduates within the Alumni Association.
A native of Joliet, Ill., Lennon received his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame in 1961 after earning two monograms in baseball and serves as president of his class. He earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University in 1962 and served as an assistant basketball and baseball coach until 1967. He also served two years as the University’s coordinator of research and sponsored programs.
After leaving the University, Lennon held executive directorships with the Mental Health Association of St. Joseph County, the South Bend Model Cities Program, the community Development Agency, the Department of Redevelopment, and the Housing Allowance Office. He was president of the St. Joseph Insurance Agency from 1978 to 1981 and completed 13 years as a member of the South Bend Community School Board, and served in all officer positions.
Lennon was named executive director of the Alumni Association in 1981. The surprise announcement of his promotion to associate vice president of university relations was made by then-president Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., in front of 3,500 alumni at the 1999 Alumni Reunion.
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The Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor given by the Notre Dame Monogram Club. It is bestowed upon an active Club member who has achieved notoriety in the following areas:
• Exemplary performance in local, state or national government
• Outstanding dedication to the spirit and ideals of Notre Dame
• Demonstrated responsibility to and concern for their respective communities
• Extraordinary commitment and involvement with youth
The Monogram Club’s officers and board of directors select the annual recipient.
The award is named in honor of Notre Dame athletics legend Edward “Moose” Krause (1913-92), a three-sport monogram winner in the early 1930s who earned All-America honors in football and basketball while also competing in track and field. He later served as an assistant football coach and assistant and head basketball coach at Notre Dame before becoming one of the nation’s most respected athletic directors, serving in that role at his alma mater from 1949-82.
Monogram Club Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award Recipients
1979 – Ray Meyer ’38 (basketball)
1980 – Clarence “Jake” Kline ’21 (baseball)
1981 – Edward “Moose” Krause ’34 (football, basketball)
1982 – Harvey Foster ’39 (football)
1983 – Jim Mello ’48 (football)
1984 – Ziggy Czarobski ’48 (football)
1985 – Rev. John Smyth ’57 (basketball)
1986 – Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. ’39 (honorary member)
1986 – Rev. Edmund P. “Ned” Joyce, C.S.C. ’37 (honorary member)
1987 – Dan Harshman ’68 (football)
1988 – John Jordan ’69 (honorary member)
1989 – Leo Barnhorst ’49 (basketball)
1989 – Bill Hassett ’47 (basketball, baseball)
1990 – Dave Duerson ’83 (football)
1991 – Zeke O’Connor ’49 (football)
1992 – Joseph Signaigo ’48 (football)
1993 – Fritz Wilson ’28 (baseball)
1994 – Dr. Dennis Nigro ’69 (tennis)
1995 – Dick Rosenthal ’54 (basketball, baseball)
1996 – Chris Zorich ’91 (football)
1997 – George Kelly ’53 (honorary member)
1998 – Ara Parseghian (honorary member)
1999 – John Carney ’87 (football)
2000 – Mike Wadsworth ’66 (football)
2000 – Rev. William Beauchamp, C.S.C. ’75 (honorary member)
2001 – Rev. Jim Riehle, C.S.C. ’49 (honorary member)
2002 – Bill Hurd ’69 (track and field)
2003 – Pete Demmerle ’75 (football)
2004 – Jim Morse ’57 (football)
2005 – Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C ’63, ’67 & ’69 (basketball)
2006 – Carol Lally Shields ’79 (basketball)
2007 – Jerome Bettis (football)
2008 – Lou Holtz (honorary member)
2009 – Mike DeCicco ’49 (fencing)
2010 – Dennis Stark ’47 (honorary member)
2011 – Chuck Lennon ’61, ’62 (baseball)
–ND–