Coolidge to Be First Winner Of Bingham Athletic Award

Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr. '54 of Leverett House and Brookline, has become the first recipient of the newly-established William J. Bingham Award.

A star football center and hockey defenseman for the past three years, Coolidge has been given an engraved watch and will have his name appear on a plaque in the lounge at Dillon Field House.

The award was established this spring by a group of Bingham's friends. During his undergraduate days Bingham was an outstanding half-miler, and later served for 25 years as athletic director. The award will be given annually to the member of the graduating class who, because of his "integrity, courage, leadership and ability on the athletic field, has best served the high purposes of Harvard" as exemplified by Bingham during his years of service.

The committee which selected Coolidge for the award consisted of Thomas D. Bolles, Wilbur J. Bender, Daniel S. Cheever, Joseph R. Hamlen, William A. Barron, and Augustus Thorndike, Jr.