Wabash College Athletics

Professor Robert "Bob" Henry was hired by President Byron Trippet to join the faculty at Wabash College in the fall of 1956. Known affectionately by many of his students of physics and phys-chem as "Bullet Bob," Henry was a 1941 graduate and faculty brat of Carleton College, hailing from Northfield, Minnesota, where his father was a long-time faculty member. Bob was an outstanding student and baseball player in his undergraduate years and went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics at Johns Hopkins University. Appointed to the Faculty Committee on Athletics in 1956 by Dean Ben Rogge, Bob became chairman of that committee in 1964 and served in that capacity until 1986, then acting as secretary until 1989 when he retired from teaching at Wabash. For his exceptional work as Professor of Physics and member of the Faculty Committee on Athletics for 33 years, Henry was named an Honorary Alumnus of Wabash in 1988 in the class of 1959. For many years he served as manager and coach of the faculty intramural teams and was a crackerjack competitor in softball, volleyball, bowling and horseshoes. In fact, 'Henry won the IM horseshoe championship a record 15 times. In 1971-72, Henry led the Wabash faculty to a runner-up finish in the all-intramural competition. A long-time assistant and timer for cross country, track, and wrestling meets, Henry was proud to witness 21 undefeated Wabash teams, 27 top-20 NCAA finishes, 38 Little State and 20 GLCA Championships, while helping Wabash host another eight national events on campus. During his tenure, Wabash athletes won 12 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships and 182 men were named all-Americans. Bob was also the Wabash FAR who guided Wabash into NCAA Division Ill in 1973 and served on NCAA committees for academic standing and scholarship.