SU to Honor Seven as LetterWinners of Distinction Friday Night
10/16/2003 9:33:05 PM | Men's Basketball, Football
Seven individuals will be honored as Syracuse University LetterWinners of Distinction at the 39th annual Syracuse University Varsity Club LetterWinner of Distinction Dinner on Friday, October 17 at Schine Student Center on the SU Campus. The honorees include Michael M. Bill '58 (football), Rev. Richard I. Dean '67 (basketball), Frederic M. Dressler '63 (basketball manager), Francis J. Miller, Jr. '50 (basketball/baseball), William A. Nelson '54 (soccer/baseball/basketball) and honorary inductees Joe Lampe '53 and SU Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw. The group will also be recognized at halftime of SU's football game against Boston College. The football game kicks off at 12:00 p.m.
Michael M. Bill '58
Football, Carmel, Ind.
A three-time football letterwinner as a linebacker and center, and a member of SU's 1957 Cotton Bowl team, Michael M. Bill graduated from Syracuse with a degree in history in 1958. While at Syracuse, he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.
Bill is co-founder and chairman of M-J Insurance, an independent retail insurance broker that is one of the top 35 privately held insurance agencies in the country. Bill had previously served as president of the company. He was a master entrepreneur finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. His endeavors in community and civic organizations include serving as board member of Assurex International, an organization of more than 100 independent insurance agencies worldwide, member of the Founder's Society, and insurance advisor to the city of Indianapolis. In 2001, he served as a Syracuse University Trustee. In addition, he supports numerous non-profit organizations in the Greater Indianapolis area. A Varsity Club lifetime member, Bill supports the Ernie Davis 44 Scholarship, made a major bequest to name the middle linebacker scholarship for the Student Athlete Fund and has contributed to the improvements in the football lockerroom.
Richard I. Dean '67
Basketball, Burnsville, N. C.
Reverend Richard I. Dean graduated from Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences in 1967 with a degree in history. He earned a master's degree from Appalachian State in 1979. At Syracuse, Dean was a four-year member of the men's basketball team, playing on the 1963-64 freshman squad and earning three varsity letters (1965-67). While at Syracuse he was SU's 1965-66 most improved player and 1966-67 most valuable player. In 1966-67 Dean earned Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and UPI Honorable Mention All-America recognition. The San Francisco Warriors selected Dean in the ninth round of the 1967 NBA draft.
In addition to his basketball involvement, Dean was active with the Army R.O.T.C. at Syracuse. He served as Cadet Commander during his senior year, earning recognition as a Top Army R.O.T.C. Cadet and a Distinguished Military Graduate. Following graduation he completed a distinguished military career, serving in Vietnam as an Infantry Platoon Leader for the 101st Airborne Division and then as staff officer Company commander from 1969 to 1970. He was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of captain. He received several military awards including the Bronze Star, Silver Star, Army Commendation Medal, and Combat Infantry Badge in Vietnam, and the RANGER Tab and Airborne Wings. From 1970 through 1973 Dean worked as a special agent for the FBI in Mississippi and Indiana. He then worked in the private business sector for three years before a 20-year career in the North Carolina Public School System. Currently, Dean is an ordained elder with United Methodist Church and is currently serving as Senior Minister of Higgins Memorial UMC in Burnsville, N.C. An SU Varsity Club member for 25 years, Dean is active in community and church activities.
Frederic M. Dressler '63
Basketball, Westport, Conn.
A 1963 graduate of Syracuse University, Frederic M. Dressler was a manager for the SU men's freshmen basketball team from1959-61 and the varsity men's basketball team from 1961-63. A Dean's List student, Dressler was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Rho, a National Radio-Television honorary fraternity and was a volunteer staff member for SU's student radio station WAER. In addition he was in the Tau Delta Phi fraternity.
After graduation he was a cable industry pioneer, acquiring franchise rights and building dozens of cable systems throughout the United States and New Zealand. He was the founder, president and CEO of Mile Hi Cablevision in Denver and the founding director of various cable networks including In Demand, E! Entertainment and Sunshine Regional Sports Network. Dressler served as a board member and convention planning committee member for the Cable Television Administration and Marketing (CTAM) Society and as chairman of the Colorado Cable TV Association. He was a radio and television broadcaster for UPI Audio, KBTR Radio, KBTV-TV and KMGH-TV. Dressler was the founding director and chairman of the National Broadcast Editorial Association during his tenure as a broadcaster.
Currently Dressler is the executive vice president at Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable systems operator. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board for In Demand, and is a founding member of the Board of Governor's Women's United Soccer Association, the only international women's pro soccer league. Dressler has received several awards and honors for his work, including the Sigma Delta Chi National Journalism Fraternity Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism and being named in the Who's Who for Cable Communications, Emerging Leaders and Global Registry. He serves as a board member for the Rotary Club, Crime Stoppers, Easter Seals Society and National Center for Child Abuse, as well as involvement with several fund raising campaigns. Dressler is a Varsity Club lifetime member and remains active with his alma mater by serving on the Newhouse School of Public Communications Dean's Advisory Board, the Newhouse School New York City program, the Lubin House program and the Society of Fellows.
Francis J. Miller '50
Basketball/Baseball, Hamlin, N. Y.
A 1950 graduate of Syracuse University's School of Education Francis J. Miller, Jr. was a four-time basketball letterwinner (1944, 1947-50) under the direction of head coach Lewis Andreas. During the 1949-50 season he was captain of the basketball team. In addition, he was a two-time baseball letterwinner (1948-49). He was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the Phi Kappa Alpha senior mens honorary while at Syracuse. In 1944 Miller left school to serve in the United States Navy, where he was active until 1946 when he was discharged with the rank of Pharmacist 3rd Class.
After graduating from Syracuse, Miller spent 16 years in sales and marketing for Curtice Brothers Company in Rochester, N.Y. He also served as the frozen food division sales manager for Curtice Burns Inc. In 1970 he began a career in education at Greece Athena High School as the curriculum coordinator and served as a health and physical education teacher. Miller filled the role of athletics director at the school for one year and also spent time coaching the varsity basketball and softball teams and the junior varsity baseball and soccer teams.
Miller is an active member of the community in Fort Myers where he lives with his wife, Jean Parnell Miller '50. He has worked with Habitat for Humanity for 12 years, volunteered in the community soup kitchen, coached Little League baseball and is a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. In 2001 he won the NY State Senior Golf Championship for the 70 and over age group. Miller is a lifetime member of the Syracuse University Varsity Club, contributing the Orange Pack and the Syracuse Annual Fund. He was an active member of the SU Alumni Club in Rochester for 25 years and has been active in the Fort Myers Club for the past six years, including serving in his current position as director. In addition, he established a memorial gift for his father, Francis J. Miller, a 1923 graduate of Syracuse, giving a gift in his name to the Student Athlete Fund.
William A. Nelson '54
Soccer/Baseball/Basketball, Pinehurst, N. C.
A three-sport letterwinner, William A. Nelson graduated in 1954 after a standout athletic career at Syracuse. He excelled in soccer, earning three varsity letters. He earned All-America honors in 1953 and an invitation to participate in the U.S. Olympic trails. In addition, Nelson earned varsity letters in basketball and baseball. Nelson was introduced to SU athletics in 1939, when he met SU's first-ever football All-American and Olympic medal winner, Bill Horr. While at Syracuse, Nelson was a member of Phi Epsilon Kappa, a men's physical education national honorary.
Following graduation he began his professional career as a physical education teacher and coach at the Seneca Fall Central School. After six years there, he spent nine years as the Director of Physical Education and coached various teams from 1960 through 1969. Nelson then moved on to become the first-ever Director of Physical Education and Recreation at Harrisburg Community College, where he stayed for 23 years. One of his many accomplishments was the establishment in 1972 of the Pennsylvania Hardcourt Tennis Championship Tournament, which drew players who were ranked nationally and internationally. From 1971 through 1979 Nelson was a golf consultant for the National Golf Foundation and from 1980 through 1982 he was the Director of Golf for the Chase Golf and Tennis Camp in Bethlehem, N.H. Since 1990 he has worked as an international golf photographer.
In 1973 Nelson assisted in the formation of the Hampden Township Youth Soccer program, which now has 2,200 boys and girls participating. The Hampden Township Girls National Championship Tournament evolved out of the soccer program, and in 1986, the tournament was dedicated to Nelson. In addition to his involvement with youth soccer, Nelson refereed the game for 28 years, including 66 NCAA Championship games. In 1986 Nelson worked with the Harrisburg Area Community College Alumni Association to begin the school's annual Golf Classic, a fundraising effort to support scholarships for students at the college. Nelson was recognized with the 1992 Mayor's Award for Distinguished Public Service for the City of Harrisburg and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A Varsity Club member since 1980, Nelson continues to support the club's events and donates to various funds.
Kenneth A. Shaw
Honorary, Syracuse, N.Y.
Kenneth A. Shaw is a nationally respected administrator and educator. The 10th Chancellor of Syracuse University, he has served as a university president for nearly 30 years. Prior to coming to Syracuse in 1991, he was the President of the University of Wisconsin System. Shaw presided over the 26-campus system based in Madison, Wis., which serves more than 160,000 students. In addition, Shaw was Chancellor of the Southern Illinois University System from 1979 to 1986, President of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville from 1977 to 1979, and Vice President and Dean of the University at Towson State University from 1969 to 1977.
As Chancellor of Syracuse University, Shaw serves more than 10,500 undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students on the Central New York campus. Founded in 1870, Syracuse University is noted as a leading teaching and research institution which offers both a strong liberal arts and professional studies education. Syracuse is one of 59 members of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Shaw is leading Syracuse through the most comprehensive restructuring process in its history and has set it on a course to achieve its vision of becoming the nation's leading student-centered research university. The result has been significant growth in national reputation and rankings, the quality of each new class of students, and a renewed sense of purpose and commitment on campus. An avid sports enthusiast, Shaw is often in attendance at SU athletic events in the Carrier Dome and at the Lampe Athletics Complex. Shaw earned a bachelor of science degree from Illinois State University in 1961, a master of education degree from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 1963, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1966.
Joseph O. Lampe
Honorary, Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Chair of Syracuse University's Board of Trustees and a member of the University's leadership group since 1987, Joseph O. Lampe is dedicated to the betterment of Syracuse University. Lampe served as a member of the $300 million Commitment to Learning Campaign Executive Committee. He has served on the College of Law Board of Visitors since 1984. Lampe was past president and founder of the SU Alumni Association of Southern California and a member of the national committee for the Campaign for Syracuse. Lampe graduated from Syracuse University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in speech and dramatic arts.
Since 1979, Lampe has been chairman of Lampe and Company, a diversified real estate development and management firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a founder and holds a major interest in partnerships that are the largest owner of mobile home and recreational vehicle parks in the state. His professional affiliations have included serving as chair of the board of the National Bank of Arizona and Western States Bancshares, Inc.
Lampe is a lifetime member of the Society of Fellows and member of the Chancellor's Council. He received the Syracuse University Alumni Award in 1984 and the Distinguished Service Award from the College of Law recognizing his service to the University. Lampe lives with his wife, Shawn Lampe, in Arizona. He has three sons, Scott, Mark and Craig.
