Lincoln College to recognize award recipients and 1962 men's basketball team on alumni weekend

[April 27, 2012]  Lincoln College will present two alumni achievement awards and recognize former coach Norm Kaye and the 1962 men's basketball team at this weekend's alumni reunion.

Mike Lumpp, a Lincoln native and a 1962 graduate of Lincoln College, will be awarded the Lincoln College Alumni Achievement Award for his success in business. He owned and operated M & M Vending in Lincoln for nearly four decades.

Lumpp started M & M Vending in 1964 while completing his education. Drawing on a hardworking and competitive nature, Lumpp led M & M Vending to considerable success over 37 years as owner and operator before retiring in 2000. At its peak, M & M Vending serviced five counties in central Illinois, fixing and filling a variety of soda and candy machines, video games, and jukeboxes.

Lumpp was also a member of the 1962 Lincoln College men's basketball team, which is being honored this weekend on its 50th anniversary. The squad was the first Lincoln College athletic team to advance to the national tournament in any sport. Lumpp scored 43 points for the Lynx in one of the national tournament games that season.

Mike has been married to his wife, Judy Stoll Lumpp, for 46 years. Together, they have supported many local causes, including the Lincoln College Alumni Board, Lincoln Knights of Columbus, Lincoln Elks Lodge, Logan County Farm Bureau, Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Community High School Board of Education, Lincoln Courier Citizen of the Year Committee, Lincoln Woman's Club and the local chapter of Master Gardeners.

Lincoln College will also honor Dr. William Rhoten this weekend, with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Rhoten, who graduated from Lincoln College in 1962, is only the second Lincoln College alumni to ever receive the award, which is the school's most prestigious award for alumni.

Rhoten has traveled extensively abroad, sharing his scientific expertise in Africa and the Middle East. As a member of the medical faculty at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Rhoten established a cell biology unit and an honors program. He has been awarded two Senior Fulbright Scholarships, in 1990 to teach in Uganda and in 1996 to teach in Zimbabwe. In 1992 he went to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to provide input into the rebuilding of the medical faculty after the Iraqi invasion and subsequent liberation by the coalition forces.

Rhoten is highly regarded for his knowledge of cellular biology. In addition to teaching, he has conducted important research studies for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Institutes of Health on the effects on cellular processes in the microgravity of space flight. He has published dozens of journal articles, contributed to textbooks, given numerous presentations, served on multiple professional committees and boards, and received several awards.

Norm Kaye led the 1962 Lincoln College men's basketball team to the Illinois state championship and the school's first national tournament in any sport, finishing with a record of 30-7. In 2004, the team was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Former players attending the weekend's events are Allen Hoffert and Tom Zurkammer of Lincoln. John Iltis of Chicago. Dave Lesson of Greenview, Bob Morse of St. Louis, Mo., Ken Schuttler of Tucson, Ariz., Chuck Williams of Gridley, Wayne Turner of Atlanta, Otis Neace of Bourbonnais, and Dick Anderson of Bloomington.

On Saturday afternoon from 2:45 until 4, coach Kaye and the team, along with others, will step on the court of their "Lynx Lair" after 50 years to play a game of "LYNX" (better known as "HORSE"). This event is open to the public and will be in the Davidson-Sheffer gymnasium on the Lincoln campus.

[Text from file received from Lincoln College]