Local Honoree, Henry Thomas III & National Honoree, Mike Glenn to Receive Recognition
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – The Basketball Hall of Fame and The Rotary Club of Springfield announced today the esteemed honorees of the sixth annual Basketball Hall of Fame Springfield Rotary “Service Above Self” Luncheon. The event will be held at the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Center Court on Friday, December 4th at 12pm. This year’s honorees – who live out the Rotary motto “Service Above Self” – are local honoree, Henry M. Thomas III and national honoree, Mike Glenn.
Local honoree, Henry M. Thomas, III serves as President and CEO of the Urban League of Springfield, Inc. He is a native of Springfield, Mass. and has worked in the Urban League movement for 43 years; serving 39 years as President and CEO. At the age of 25, Thomas became the youngest appointed President/CEO of a National Urban League Affiliate in the nation. Mr. Thomas also accepted a two-year assignment with the National Urban League (New York) serving as its Vice-President for Youth Development with a primary focus of advocacy for programmatic infrastructure development to support youth development within the inner city communities.
Mr. Thomas is the producer and host of “Urban League Community Focus,” a weekly radio program on WTCC 90.7FM; now in its 20th year with listening audience of approximately 60,000 people in the western Mass. and northern Connecticut regions. He also serves as CEO for the historic Camp Atwater of Worcester County, the oldest African American overnight youth camp in the United States, and has served on the board of several local, state and national committees. These include Step Up Springfield, the Massachusetts Board of Education, the Board of Trustees at University of Massachusetts and the Springfield Fire and Police Commissions, among others.
Mr. Thomas earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Masters of Arts degree in Human Resource Development from American International College; and a Jurisprudence Doctorate degree from Western New England University School of Law. He also received honorary Doctoral Degrees from Bay Path University and Westfield State University; and accreditation from the Senior Executive Leadership Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
National Honoree, Mike “Stinger” Glenn is a former NBA basketball player who played with the Buffalo Braves, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. Beyond his athletic prowess, he’s developed a reputation as an academic enthusiast, author, educator, public speaker and humanitarian. He is the recipient of numerous awards including: Academic All-American Team Member, the NBA Walter P. Kennedy Citizenship Awards, the NBA Spirit of Love Award and Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr. Community Service Award by the Roberto Goizueto Business School at Emory University.
As an academic enthusiast, Mr. Glenn completed 12 years of perfect attendance in elementary and high school while being named the number one rated basketball player in the state and maintaining his status as an honor student. After completing four years at Southern Illinois University, he received a BA in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. He then attended graduate business classes at St. John’s University, Southern Illinois University and Baruch College. Through his love of learning, Mr. Glenn has started a personal library of rare literature by and about African Americans and has written five books of his own.
Mr. Glenn has served as a public speaker at high schools throughout the southeast for campaigns against violence and drugs. Another cause close to his heart is his All-Star Basketball Camp for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. This non-profit organization is the nation’s first basketball camp for hearing-challenged athletes and has been offered every summer for the past 35 years, free of charge to as many as 120 deaf athletes annually across the country. Mr. Glenn was recently elected to the board of directors of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), as well as the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame. Currently, Mike Glenn is a television basketball analyst for Fox Sports South. He can be seen on Hawks Live, the pre-game, halftime, and post game show for the Atlanta Hawks.
Sponsorship opportunities and tickets to the luncheon are still available. Individual tickets are $60. For more information on sponsorships or to purchase tickets to the luncheon, please contact Paul Lambert with the Basketball Hall of Fame at 413-231-5502 or [email protected].
About Rotary International: Rotary International is the world's first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self. The Springfield Rotary Club meets every Friday at 12:15 p.m. in the Mass Mutual Room at The Basketball Hall of Fame on Hall of Fame Avenue. For more information on the Rotary Club of Springfield or becoming a member, please visit their website at www.springfieldmarotary.org.
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.
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