Colorado State University Athletics
Distinguished Alumni Awards have decidedly athletics feel
10/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | General
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - As part of Colorado State University's homecoming celebration this week, the 100th in University history, the CSU Alumni Association is set to honor a new class of Distinguished Alumni at their annual awards dinner, Thursday night at the newly remodeled Lory Student Center.
As in the past, this year's event will have a decidedly athletics feel as a trio of honorees - John Hirn, Brownie McGraw and Jim Smith - have very strong ties to the CSU Department of Athletics.
John Hirn
John Hirn, who earned a bachelor's degree in history from CSU in 1993, is the 2014 recipient of the Jim and Nadine Henry Award. He has donated countless hours and resources to the betterment of CSU Athletics as the Rams' resident athletics historian. In addition to authoring the book Aggies to Rams: The History of Football at Colorado State, Hirn has been instrumental in several projects to preserve CSU Athletics' history, including the revamped CSU Sports Hall of Fame inside Moby Arena. Read more on John Hirn's honor.
Brownie McGraw
Brownie McGraw is the 2014 recipient of the College of Health and Human Sciences Honor Alumna award. She first enrolled at Colorado A&M in 1948 where she met CSU's most legendary athletics figure, and first All-American in school history, Thurman "Fum" McGraw. The couple married in 1950 after Fum's first season with the NFL's Detroit Lions. Upon returning to Fort Collins, she completed her bachelor's (1965) and master's (1972) degrees in education at CSU. Fum served as CSU's director of athletics from 1976-86 and Brownie served the community in several leadership positions within Poudre School District. Read more on Brownie McGraw's honor.
Jim Smith
Jim Smith, who holds a bachelor's degree in business (1967) and master's degrees in economics (1969) and business finance (1971) from CSU, is the 2014 Distinguished Athletic Award honoree. Smith has been playing, watching or supporting the Rams for 50 years. He began his association with CSU Athletics as a walk-on to the football team in 1963, and over the years has provided significant amounts of time and financial support to create many important elements within the Department of Athletics, including the Former Athletes Association and the CSU Sports Hall of Fame. In 1992, he worked with former CSU golf coach, Mark Crabtree, to found the Ram Masters, the funding arm of the men's golf program. Read more on Jim Smith's honor.
