Athletic Hall of Fame

William J. Stephens

Sport(s): Basketball, Track

Graduating Class: 1960

Induction Class: 1987

Colonel William J. Stephens graduated in 1960 as a Distinguished Military Graduate... Lettered in both basketball and track... Averaged in double figures for the Eastern basketball team for four years... Was Eastern's top scorer in 1959-60 with a 16.1 scoring average... Scored 1,004 career points for the basketball team... Scored 40 points on Jan. 12, 1957 against Illinois Normal...Earned second-team All-Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) basketball honors in 1957 and was named the NAIA All-Star state of Michigan team in 1960... Won the 220-yard dash at the 1957 IIAC track meet and was runner-up in the 100-yard dash in the 1957 IIAC championships... Received the EMU Distinguished Alumni Award in 1985... High decorated U.S. Army career included the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Custer, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Custer, Air Medal, Joint Communication Medal with Two Oak Leaf Cluster, the Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnamese Staff Honor Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and Vietnam Armed Forces Medal... Completed his U.S. Army career as a Colonel, serving as a Brigade Commander, Commander, Chief of Staff, and Deputy for Policy and Strategy for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (DISC4) Office of the Secretary of the Army, The Pentagon.. A former member of the EMU Board of Regents and served as vice chairman... Named EMU Regent Emeritus in 2001... Inducted into the EMU ROTC Hall of Fame in 1995... Awarded the Senate Congressional Medal of Freedom in 1999... Chairman of the Michigan Association of Governing Boards for the State Universities from 1996-2001.

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