ECAC Announces Three James Lynah Distinguished Service Award Recipients
CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today the three recipients of the ECAC James Lynah Distinguished Service Award: Lauren Anderson (University of Rhode Island), Paul Bogan (Westfield State College), and John Simpson (Boston University). They will receive their awards on Tuesday, October 6, at the ECAC Honors Luncheon presented by Jostens. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.
Established in 1957 in appreciation of the ECAC's principal founder James Lynah, the award is bestowed periodically upon an ECAC athletics administrator who has achieved outstanding success and has made significant contributions in the interest of intercollegiate athletics.
Anderson, the senior associate director of athletics at Rhode Island since 2003, announced her retirement on April 4, 2008, after a 41-year career in athletics, including 31 years at URI. Anderson, a strong proponent of women's issues and opportunities for women in athletics has been a role model for women coaches and administrators. Last year, she was selected as the recipient of the ECAC's Katherine Ley Award.
Her career path has mirrored the growth of women's athletics in
New England. She began her career in athletics as a physical
education teacher and coach at North Haven High School in North
Haven, Conn., where she led the girls' track and field team to four
state championships in her ten years. She also served as the girls'
basketball coach and field hockey coach. She earned her "National
Umpire" rating in field hockey and officiated
collegiate and international matches between 1967-77. In 1975, she
became North Haven High's athletic director, the first female in
the state of Connecticut to serve in that capacity.
Following the introduction of women's intercollegiate sports at URI, Anderson joined the staff in 1977 as the school's first women's cross country/track and field coach. Her many coaching honors include the 1997 New England Division I Cross Country Coach of the Year, the 1989 New Agenda-Northeast Women's Hall of Fame inductee, the 1990 New England Division I Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year, and the 1991 URI Coach of the Year. She has served as founding member, vice president, and president of the New England Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country, Track & Field Association, as well as an executive board member and president of the Eastern Collegiate Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches' Association.
After spending 15 years as a successful coach, Anderson made the transition into administration, succeeding her own mentor, 1987 Katherine Ley Award winner Eleanor Lemaire as associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator in 1992. In 2003, Anderson was promoted to senior associate director of athletics. In that role, she was responsible for the coordination and supervision of men's and women's cross country/track and field, men's soccer, rowing, softball, field hockey, and gymnastics, while also overseeing facilities, scheduling, sports medicine and academic advising.
Anderson has received numerous professional honors and accolades throughout her career. She was named the 2001 University of Rhode Island Association for Professional and Academic Women "Woman of the Year" and the 2005 National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators Division I-AA Administrator of the Year. In addition, Anderson was inducted into the North Haven High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002.
She served as president of the Rhode Island Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (RIAIAW) from 1995-2005, and was honored with the 2008 RIAIAW Lifetime Achievement Award in May. Fittingly, it was announced that the award would be named after her for those who receive it in the future.
Bogan played a significant role in the rise and prestige of Westfield State athletics department. Bogan served as athletics director for 32 years, from 1963 to 1995, and the program grew from two sports to as many as 22.
During his tenure, Westfield State captured four Smith Cups and 63 Massachusetts State Conference team championships. The Owls won 15 regional team titles, and participated in 19 NCAA tournaments and 32 ECAC tournaments. Additionally, countless athletes earned individual honors on the regional and national levels.
Bogan held many titles during his years at Westfield State. He
was the head baseball coach for 10 years (1963-72) and the head
men's basketball coach for four years (1964-67). In addition, he
was a faculty member during his early years at Westfield State,
teaching
physical education.
Bogan's leadership experience extended beyond Westfield State. He was the commissioner of the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference from 1980 to 1990, and the commissioner of the New England Football Conference from 1991 to 1996. Also in 1991 he was president of the New England College Athletic Conference. Following his retirement from Westfield State in August of 1995, he became the first full-time commissioner of the Northeast 10 Conference.
Bogan was actively involved in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He was on the association's executive committee from 1976 to 1980; the secretary from 1980-85; and the parliamentarian from 1985 until his death in July of 1997.
In January of 1998, the 92nd annual NCAA Convention adopted a memorial resolution commemorating his distinguished service to athletics. He was inducted into the Westfield State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
Bogan officiated high school and college soccer games for many years, and served on various committees of the national and New England Intercollegiate Soccer Officials.
Bogan also displayed his leadership abilities in the city of Westfield. He was on the board of directors at Camp Togawauk; a group leader in the community drug abuse program, and a committee member of the Westfield Industrial Development Financing Authority.
The Fall River native graduated from Durfee High School in 1953. He attended Boston University from 1956-59 and played football there, then transferred to UMass Amherst, where he graduated from in 1960. Bogan earned a master's degree at Penn State in 1961, and a doctorate in administration from Heed University in Florida in 1975.
Simpson served as the Director of Athletics at Boston University from 1975-1984, during a period of tremendous growth for the Terriers. He took the department from nine sports to 22 programs. During his tenure, he hired coaches such as David Hemery, Joan Benoit, Rick Pitino, Rick Taylor, and Carl Adams. Under his leadership, BU was also the first school in the East to offer scholarships to women.
Simpson played football at BU as an undergraduate, and led his
teams to a combined record of 22-9-1 during his four years. The
Marine Corps veteran graduated in 1950 and received a master's
degree from Boston University in 1954. He was inducted into the BU
Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000, not just for his accomplishments on
the football field, but also for what he meant to the entire
athletic program as the University's athletic director.
Following graduation, Simpson served as the director of physical education and athletics at Somerset (Mass.) High School from 1952-58. He then moved on to Colby College, where he worked as an assistant coach for track and football until 1962 before taking over the reins as the head football coach and tennis coach until 1967. He remained on staff as a professor until 1971. He remained in Maine as director of adult education for the Biddeford School Department until 1975 when he took over as the director of athletics at BU.
After leaving his post as director of athletics, Simpson served as the Executive Director of the General Alumni Association and National Director of Development from 1985-1990, and later worked as a development/alumni consultant until 1992.
In addition to his election to the BU Athletics Hall of Fame, Simpson was inducted into the Somerset High School Hall of Fame in 1986. He received the Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1990 and the Roger "Moose" Washburn Memorial Award from the BU Hall of Fame in 1994. Simpson was recognized with the Carl Nelson Sports Achievement Award from Colby College in 1995 and the Distinguished American Award from the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1995.
