Former West Virginia University head football coach Gene Corum will headline this years School of Physical Education Hall of Fame induction ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in the Milan Puskar Center.
Corum, an assistant dean at the school, will receive the 2001 Outstanding Alumnus Award. This years Hall of Fame inductees will be actress Susan Barnes, former P.E. Dean J. William Douglas and retired Parkersburg High School athletic coach Sam Mandich.
“This years class of inductees represents individuals who have distinguished themselves nationally as scholars, administrators, athletic coaches and entertainers,”said Dean Dana Brooks.
Corum coached the Mountaineer football team from 1960-65 and led the 1964 team to the Liberty Bowl. Before that, he was an assistant coach under Art”Pappy”Lewis for nine years. He joined the School of P.E. faculty on a full-time basis in 1966 and has been assistant dean since 1978. He has also served stints as acting dean of the school and acting athletic director.
A Huntington native, Corum enrolled at WVU in 1940 and graduated in 1948 with bachelors and masters degrees following a 3-year military hiatus during World War II. While at WVU , he played guard for the Mountaineer football team and was captain of the 1947 squad.
He and his wife, Lucille, live in Morgantown. They have two daughters.
Barnes has enjoyed a career as an actress in film, television and stage since 1977. She has co-starred in 41 major motion pictures, acting opposite stars such as Paul Newman, Nicholas Cage, Glenn Close, Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges and Andy Garcia. She has also appeared in more than a dozen television movies and mini-series and had regular roles on Laverne and Shirley, Growing Pains and currently on Fox Televisions Titus.
Her awards and honors include”The Two-Minute Oscar”and an Olivier Award (Englands Tony) nomination. She was recently elected to the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts&Sciences, the group that nominates and votes for the Oscars.
Barnes, who grew up in Rices Landing, Pa., graduated from WVU in 1968. While at the University, she was head cheerleader for three years and a member of Orchesis.
She also has a masters of fine arts degree and resides in Hollywood.
Douglas was a professor in the School of P.E. from 1972 until this year and served as dean from 1979-92. During his career at WVU he researched and wrote about various health and physical education issues. His published works include a wellness text for senior citizens and a history of the School of P.E.
The Morgantown native graduated from WVU with a bachelors degree in physical education and biology in 1961 and a masters degree in health and safety education in 1962. He also has a doctorate in physical education and higher education administration from Ohio State University.
Douglas lives in Morgantown with his wife, Karen, a former faculty member in WVU s community medicine program. They have four children.
Mandich was involved in Parkersburg High School athletics for 28 years, including 18 as head basketball coach, 13 as football coach and his last 10 as athletic director. He also served four years as placement director for Wood County schools.
During his coaching career, which spanned four decades, his teams won three state AAA basketball championships (1958, 1960 and 1970), and he set a record for career wins among high school basketball coaches.
Mandich, who was born in Steubenville, Ohio, graduated from the University in 1941. While at WVU , he played basketball and football and was captain of the 1941 basketball team.
He and his wife, Anne, live in Parkersburg. They have one daughter.
Some 78 School of Physical Education alumni have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since it was established in 1988.