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ECAC Announces Four James Lynah Distinguished Service Award Recipients

CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today the four recipients of the ECAC James Lynah Distinguished Service Award: Bob Burke (American International College), Arthur Eason (William Paterson University), Larry Schiner (New Jersey City University), and Bob Sheldon (St. Lawrence University). They will receive their awards on Sunday, September 28, at the ECAC Honors Dinner at the Albany Crowne Plaza. 

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.

Burke served as the Director of Athletics at American International College from 1986 until his retirement in 2006. Burke's retirement from AIC ended a 38-year association with the college's athletic department. Burke came to AIC in 1968 when he was hired as an assistant football coach. He was named head coach of the Yellow Jackets in 1976 and compiled a record of 36-28-2 over seven seasons, including a record of 8-2 in 1980.

Burke then served as associate athletic director for three years before being named director of athletics in 1986. During his 20-year tenure, the AIC athletic department added several sports, including men's and women's lacrosse, wrestling and field hockey, while enjoying numerous successes at the regional and national levels.

Burke, who was named to the inaugural class of the Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame, served as the Northeast-10 Commissioner from 1989 to 1995 and again during the 1997-98 academic year. He also served as the president of the ECAC in 1994, and has served for many years as the chairman of the Springfield Tip-Off Classic Committee, which hosts the annual college basketball Tip-Off Classic in the city.

A native of Holyoke, Mass., Burke earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Massachusetts in 1965. At UMass, Burke was a member of the most recent undefeated football team in school history when the then-Redmen went 8-0-1 in 1963. He went on to earn All-Yankee Conference first team honors as an offensive tackle as a senior. Burke received his master's in education from American International in 1974, and later earned a certificate of advanced graduate study in administration from AIC.

For 30 years of service at William Paterson, Arthur Eason supervised an athletic department that included 17 sports, 38 staff members and more than 250 student-athletes. During his tenure, the Pioneers won the 1992 and 1996 Division III baseball national championships, as well as two track and field individual national titles and a women's fencing national crown.  The men's basketball program reached the 2001 national title game and the 1999 Final Four, while the softball team won the 2001 NCAA East Regional crown.

The athletic department enjoyed much success by winning 27 New Jersey Athletic Conference team championships, and nearly every program competed in the NCAA Championships.

Eason, served as the chairperson of the NCAA Nominating and Division III Self-Study Committees, as well as the ECAC Infractions Committee.  Also, held the post of secretary of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), and served as the vice president and the football chairperson of the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

Eason was named the recipient of the CAANJ's Garden State Award for Outstanding Service in 1994 and was inducted into the William Paterson Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

A 1962 graduate of Montclair State University with a B.S. in social studies and a 1971 William Paterson graduate with a M.A. in social science, he began his career at William Paterson in 1970 as an assistant director of financial aid before being named the athletic director in August of 1972.

In 40 years at New Jersey City University and 30 years as director of athletics, Larry Schiner has been the chief architect of unprecedented growth and improvement in Gothic Knight intercollegiate sports.

Schiner was named director of athletics in 1977 after serving as head men's basketball coach and assistant athletic director under Tom Gerrity. During his nine seasons as head basketball coach, he became the winningest coach in the program's history with 133 wins.  Two of his teams were selected to participate in the NCAA College Division III Championship Tournament.  Five of his Gothic Knight teams reached post-season play and the 1973 and 1974 squads claimed back-to-back New Jersey State College Athletic Conference (NJSCAC) titles.  He earned NJSCAC Coach of the Year honors in 1968 and 1973, and was inducted into NJCU's Athletic Hall of Fall as a coach in 1980. In 1982, he was presented with the Jersey City State College Honorary Alumni Award.

Schiner has received several prestigious honors throughout his career, included the 2003 Jostens-ECAC Male Administrator of the Year, and the 2003-04 academic year, as he was selected as the 2003-04 Division III Southeast Region NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) AD of the Year.

Schiner was instrumental in the formation of the New Jersey Athletic Conference and served as its first president from 1985 through 1987.  He served as president of the NJSCAC (New Jersey State College Athletic Conference), the precursor of the NJAC from 1982 until the inception of the NJAC in 1985.

Schiner has served as the chair of the ECAC Championships Committee and ECAC Eligibility Committee.  He has been a member of the ECAC Board of Directors, and has served on numerous other ECAC committees.

Schiner holds a bachelor's degree in physical education ('61) and a master's degree in education ('62) from the University of Maine.  He was an All-Yankee Conference, All-Maine and Honorable Mention All-New England basketball player in 1960 and 1961 and established six Black Bear records including most points (career), most rebounds (season), and highest field goal percentage (season and career).

A member of the St. Lawrence University athletic department for 34 years until his retirement in 1991 and a 1992 inductee into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame, Bob Sheldon made his mark both as a coach and an athletic administrator.

A native of Oswego, N.Y., Shledon was a 1952 graduate of Colgate University, earning his master's degree there in 1954. He coached at Corning Free Academy from 1954-57 before joining the St. Lawrence staff as an instructor and coach. He was promoted to associate professor in the physical education department in 1969, was named assistant director of athletics and athletic business manager in 1972 and became athletic director in 1974.

He compiled a 110-135 record as head basketball coach from 1957-69 which included St. Lawrence's first Independent College Athletic Conference championship in 1965-66. His 1962-63 team established the Saint record for wins in a season to that point with a 15-7 record. He also spent nine seasons as backfield coach in football and eight season as junior varsity football coach, compiling a 31-6-1 record in that sport.

Upon assuming the mantle of athletic director, he led St. Lawrence through one of its most prosperous eras to that point in its athletic history. During his tenure, athletic offerings increased by seven sports which included the effective doubling of women's sports. St. Lawrence ranked third nationally among all Division III schools at the end of his tenure with 28 NCAA individual national champions and teams earned 32 bids to NCAA tournaments during his career as athletic director.

He served as president and secretary of the Independent College Athletic Conference and represented St. Lawrence and served intercollegiate athletics as a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference executive committee as well as the ECAC officiating, basketball selection, football selection and Division I ice hockey committees. He was also chairman of the Eastern regional NCAA Division III basketball selection committee for seven years. He was a member of the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

About the ECAC^®
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities.  The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors more than 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports.  The ECAC also administers eight affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually.  Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.