Lawrence A. Kimball
Honorary, 1997
1997 Letterwinner of Distinction
1997 Letterwinner of Distinction
An ear ended late this summer when Lawrence A. Kimball retired from Syracuse University. He had held the position of SU sports information director for 31 years. In 1996, Larry was honored for his dedication and service to Orange athletics by the establishments of the Lawr4ence A. Kimball Sports Information director Endowment Fund. Larry is the first SID at Syracuse to have the position endowed in the name.
A 1994 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame inductee, Larry started at Syracuse in 1966. Known as “The Dean” of Big East Conference SIDs, he coordinated a number of major events during his tenure. He was the media coordinator for six NCAA Basketball Tournaments, including two regional championships and four sub-regional championships as well as two NCAA Lacrosse Championships played in the Carrier Dome. He served as co-director of the national Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships for 31 years.
A record holder in his own right, Larry worked 383 consecutive football games, the longest active streak in the sports information profession. He also worked 11 football games for the Orangemen, which ties for ninth on the CoSIDA streaks list. Larry won several awards for his football and basketball media guides including a “Best in the Nation” in football. He is a past president of the ECAC Sports Information Directors Association and received that organization’s Service Bureau Award in 1976.
Among Larry’s other honors are the CoSIDA Lifetime Award, the Scoop Hudgins Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the All-American Football Foundation and the Doyle Smith Award given by the U.S. Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Earlier this year, a racing shell, the Lawrence A. Kimball, was dedicated in appreciation of Larry’s longtime contributions to the SU crew program.
A 1954 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Larry served in the U.S. Army for two years before working for the Norwich (NY) Sun and Utica (NY) Press from 1956 to 1960. He moved to the University of Vermont, where he was assistant director of public relations and director of sports information until 1966.
Larry and his wife, Joan, live in Fayetteville, He has two daughter, Christina and Melissa and a grandson, Thomas.
