Celebrate SU LetterWinners of Distinction

Eight of Syracuse University's former athletic standouts will relish their well deserved time in the spotlight during the annual LetterWinner of Distinction banquet. Syracuse University will honor the former student-athletes who have left their mark on the athletics program and in their lives after graduation at the 'The Tradition of Excellence Continues' celebration on Saturday, October 22 at the Turning Stone Event Center in Verona, N.Y. The 2011 honorees include Kris Beyer '86 (Swimming), Frank Hamblen '69 (Basketball), Joseph Krivak '57 (Football and Baseball), James Kuhn '70 (Fencing), Felisha Legette-Jack '89 (Basketball), Ron Oyer '66 (Football), Anthony Paskevich Jr. '66 (Football and Lacrosse) and Leo Rautins '83 (Basketball).

Syracuse radio play-by-play voice Matt Park '97 will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

Tickets are $125 per person or $1,250 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 Jamie Mullin, Executive Director of the Varsity Club (jpmullin@syr.edu, 315-443-5050) before October 17.

Kris Beyer, 1986 (Swimming)

Kris Beyer was a three-year member of the SU swimming team before she earned her B.S. in electrical engineering from the L.C. Smith College of Engineering in 1986.

Her engineering career began with Harrison Radiator Division of General Motors in research and development. She was then recruited to operate the Asia Pacific office of GMC's Hydramatic Division in Tokyo. Beyer was the first female sent to Asia in this capacity by GM, and, on her watch, sales in that region increased to more than 40% of global sales. She later worked for another HVAC manufacturer and an engineering consulting firm. She also began obtaining personal training certifications and opened a health club after leaving engineering in 1997. Today, she owns two personal training studios, in Michigan and New York. Beyer earned an M.S. in Exercise Science and specializes in special needs clients (elderly, youth sports, stroke, MS, CP).

At SU, Beyer served as Vice President of the Engineering Council and Organizational Supervisor of the Society of Women Engineers, and was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers (and Minorities) and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She was also an academic tutor. From 1987 through 1979, she was a Governing Board Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Beyer has been a tireless fundraiser for numerous charities, including Hospice of Jackson and Oaklawn, Relay for Life, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Japan tsunami relief, and is a member of the Akron, N.Y., Rotary. She is a life member of the Alumni Club of Western New York, whose board she served on, an Orange Club contributor, life member of the Varsity Club and member of the Board of directors since 2007, as well as part of the Syracuse Alumni Representative program since 1986.

Frank Hamblen, 1969 (Basketball)

Frank Hamblen was a three-time letterwinner in basketball. He also played one season on the baseball team. He received his degree in radio-television and film in 1969.

He has spent 42 years in pro basketball, starting as a scout for the San Diego Rockets in 1969 and continuing as a scout when they moved to Houston. He then moved behind the bench, serving as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets, Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.

The longest tenured assistant coach in the National Basketball Association, Hamblen joined the Lakers coaching staff prior to the 1999-2000 season. With his wealth of experience and knowledge of the game, Hamblen has been an integral part of the Lakers success in capturing five championships and making seven NBA Finals appearances during his 11-year run with the team. Serving as an assistant under Phil Jackson from 1996-98 and again from 1999-2004, he was a member of the Bulls' NBA Championship teams in 1997 and 1998 and the Lakers' NBA Championship teams in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010.

Hamblen has served as an assistant coach for four All-Star teams and was twice he was tapped to be interim head coach, including with the Bucks early in the 1991-92 season and with the Lakers midway through the 2004-05 season. In addition, he has conducted basketball camps and clinics all over the world, focusing on young players.

At SU, Hamblen was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and was selected to Phi Kappa Alpha senior men's honorary. The native of Terre Haute, Indiana, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and named to its 1990 Silver Anniversary boys team. He graduated Garfield High as the third-leading scorer behind Terry Dischinger and Clyde Lovellette.

He has been active over the years with Cystic Fibrosis, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is a life member of the Varsity Club.

Joseph Krivak, 1957 (Football and Baseball)

Joe Krivak, an offensive lineman/linebacker, earned three football letters while blocking for All-American Jim Brown, including in the 1957 Cotton Bowl. He also played third base and earned one letter in baseball. Krivak earned his degree in history science in 1957 and an M.A. in Education from Syracuse in 1961.

Krivak is best known as an innovative college football coach who developed six NFL quarterbacks at the University of Maryland, four of whom played in the Super Bowl. He was an assistant coach at Syracuse, Maryland, Navy and Virginia, working with receivers and quarterbacks. He was head coach at Maryland from 1987-1991 and was recognized by the Dapper Dan Club of the Ohio Valley in 1990 after the Terps' Independence Bowl appearance. He coached in 14 bowl games and on seven Atlantic Coast Conference championship teams. In 1984, his play-calling is credited with Maryland's overcoming a 31-0 deficit to defeat defending national champion Miami, 42-40, in Miami. He served on the Rules Committee of the American Football Coaches Association. Krivak's career began at Madonna High School in Weirton, W.Va., where he taught history and mathematics and coached the football team, several of whose members went on to play at SU.

He is active in his community, especially at Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, Md., where he has chaired the annual Father Joe Hogan Memorial Golf Tournament, which raises scholarship funds. Since his retirement from coaching in 1997, he has continued to host summer quarterbacks and receivers camps for high school players and coaches. He is a regular donor to SU and since his retirement has been able to attend at least one SU football game each year with his class of players.

James D. Kuhn, 1970 (Fencing)

Jimmy Kuhn captained the fencing team during the 1967-68 season and was a three-time letterwinner (1968-1969-1970). He won the North Atlantic Collegiate Foil Championship in 1968 and went on to finish in the top 16 at Nationals that year. He earned his B.S. in finance in 1970 and his MBA in 1972 from SU.

He began his career as a lender with Metropolitan Life, and then was an owner/manager with The Mendik Company, before selling it to Vornado. He is president and principal of New York-based Newmark Knight Frank, one of the largest global real-estate service providers, which he joined in 1992. He is a co-founder of New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate's masters program and taught there from 1978-93. He founded the NYU Diversity Program for Studies in Real Estate.

At SU, Kuhn was a member of Tau Delta Phi fraternity. He has been honored as School of Management Alumnus of the Year (1988) and with the Leadership Award of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center (2004).

He is an active supporter of SU. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and chair of its Facilities Committee. He established the James D. Kuhn Real Estate Center at the Whitman School of Management in 2006 as well as the Leo and Sunnie Kuhn Scholarship for students interested in the studies of real estate. He helped fund the New York City branch of the SU School of Architecture program and the Student Film Fund in the SU School of Visual and Performing Arts. Kuhn is also a board member of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

Felisha Legette-Jack, 1989 (Basketball)

Felisha Legette-Jack, four-time basketball letterwinner, was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 1985 and earned All-BIG EAST honors in 1986, 1987 and 1989. She played in the Orange women's basketball program's first NCAA Tournament game and left as SU's leading scorer and rebounder (and is currently fourth and second, respectively). She received a dual degree in child and family studies and psychology in 1989.

After graduating from SU, Legette-Jack was head girls basketball coach at Westhill High School in Syracuse. She moved on to college coaching as an assistant coach at Boston College, SU and Michigan State before being named head coach at Hofstra in 2002. She was Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2004. Legette-Jack also served on the coaching staffs of two USA Basketball gold-medal-winning teams. She is beginning her sixth season as women's basketball coach at Indiana University and has led the Hoosiers to three postseason appearances. Six members of last year's team earned academic All-Big Ten honors.

Legette-Jack, an alumna of Nottingham High, was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, Syracuse Urban League Hall of Fame and Orange Plus Hall of Fame. She was honored in 2004 as one of 15 member of the BIG EAST's Silver Anniversary Team.

She has been active in the Bloomington community with Hoosiers Outrun Cancer, Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, and served as co-host of a benefit for the Bloomington WonderLab of Science, Health and Technology. Once a year, Legette-Jack gets together with her SU teammates, who have remained close friends for more than 20 years.

Ron Oyer, 1966 (Football)

A three-time football letterwinner, Ron Oyer was a co-captain in 1965, teaming with Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Jim Nance. He received a B.A. in public administration in 1966.

Before embarking on a 30-year career in higher education and community non-profit organizations, Oyer served as a Mariner Corps infantry officer, including 13 months in Vietnam. During his five years in the SU Department of Athletics, including one as athletics director, Oyer was instrumental in the founding of the Orange Pack (now Orange Club), helping solicit funds for athletics, including a major gift from Stanley Coyne which was used to install SU's first artificial field. Oyer spearheaded major upgrades at Manley Field House, including retractable bleachers, and was author of a report that led to the replacement of Archbold Stadium with a domed facility. Oyer was also a founder of the Syracuse Chargers track club. While director of athletics at the University of Denver, he helped oversee implementation of Title IX. He also served as vice president for development of the 22 YMCAs in the greater St. Louis area, vice president for development at Georgia Southwestern State University, vice president for development and admissions at St. Mary's College, Leavenworth, Kansas. Today he is president of R.J. Real Estate Investments, LLC in St. Louis, which buys and rehabs residential properties.

While a student at SU, Oyer was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was inducted into the Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame and has been recognized by the American Heart Association for major-gifts fundraising on its behalf. Oyer received a master's degree in Education Administration from Georgia Southwestern. He is a life member of the Varsity Club.

Anthony Paskevich, 1966 (Lacrosse)

Tony Paskevich, a two-time lacrosse letterwinner (1965-66), earned a B.A. in literature in 1966 and an architecture degree in 1972. He served as captain for several games during the 1966 season and received the most improved player award that year.

After receiving his degree from SU, Paskevich was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in Vietnam from 1968-69 and was honored with the Navy Cross in 1973 for heroic action in 1969 as a helicopter pilot. The unit he was to support was pinned down in a rice paddy under heavy fire. He fired rockets and machine guns at the enemy and landed to evacuate a wounded Marine. Over a four-hour period, he rearmed and refueled seven times, and landed under fire three other times to evacuate three more seriously wounded Marines. He also took out machine-gun and anti-aircraft emplacements. After becoming a registered architect in the state of Ohio in 1976, he co-founded Studio Seven, which became Anthony Paskevich & Associates Architects in 1980. He is president and principal architect of Anthony Paskevich & Associates, a 10-person architectural firm in Cleveland.

At SU, Paskevich was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

He volunteers with and contributes to the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, the Cleveland Kidney Foundation and Geauga Veterans Memorial. He also supports The Russell Historical Society, Adirondack Heritage Foundation, Marine Corps Memorial Foundation and Marine Corps Museum and Chapel. He supports SU through the Orange Club and annual giving to the School of Architecture.

Leo Rautins, 1983 (Basketball)

Leo Rautins won three letters in basketball . In 1981, he helped lead the Orange to its first BIG EAST Tournament championship with the winning tip-in in the third overtime and was named tournament MVP. He was a tri-captain as a senior, and played in the NCAA tournament. A three-time BIG EAST All-Tournament selection, he was an honorable mention All-American in 1983. He received a B.S. in broadcast journalism.

A first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983 (the first Canadian ever selected in the first round), Rautins spent two injury-marred seasons in the NBA before playing professionally in Europe, where he was an all-star in the Spanish and Italian leagues. At 16, he was the youngest player ever selected to the Canadian Senior National men's basketball team and served as its head coach from 2005-2011. The Toronto native has been the television analyst for his hometown NBA Raptors since their inaugural season in 1995. Rautins' 27-year career in broadcast and print journalism began as an analyst for SU basketball and CBC Radio covering the 1984 Olympics. He continues to be an ambassador for basketball as a speaker and teacher.

At SU, Rautins was a member of Phi Kappa Alpha honorary and named to Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. He was the only team sport member to be named Canadian Junior Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame. He is a member of SU's All-Century Team and a recipient of the Vic Hanson Medal of Excellence.

He helps raise awareness and money for children's hospitals and charities through his Rautins-House celebrity events.

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