PULLMAN, Wash. — Keith Lincoln, longtime executive director of the Washington State University Alumni Association, was recognized Sept. 19, when the Athletics Room in the Lewis Alumni Centre was named in his honor. The ceremony was held at a dinner in conjunction with the Alumni Association Board of Directors annual fall meeting.
The 1961 WSU graduate returned to his alma mater in 1972 as associate director and was named director in 1978, when E.G. “Pat” Patterson retired after 26 years in the post. Lincoln was promoted executive director of the Alumni Association in 1990. During his 25-year tenure, the alumni center moved from cramped quarters on the ground floor of the Compton Union Building to WSU’s historic livestock barn that was remodeled and enlarged. The $5 million project was completed in 1989 and dedicated during the university’s centennial celebration that year. The ground level of the south wing of the alumni center houses the Athletics Room where WSU sports memorabilia is displayed.
The Lincoln Athletics Room is one of six areas in the alumni center that has been named. The Lighty Library honors WSU benefactors June and Phil Lighty, Burlingame, Calif. The Past Alumni Presidents Room was dedicated in the honor of the Harry W. Reaugh family of Oklahoma, and the Regents Room is named for four members of the Class of 1937 who served as WSU regents — Jack Cole, Edwall; H.H. Hayner, Walla Walla; Robert McEachern, Redmond; and Lyle Neff, Pasco. The reception area is named for Weldon B. Gibson, first chair of the WSU Foundation. The center is named for benefactor Jack Lewis, Woodinville, and the courtyard is named for 1951 alumnus Bob Smawley, a past president of the Alumni Association.
Lincoln continues to maintain an office at the alumni center and works on a part-time basis. He was recruited to WSU by football coach Jim Sutherland in the fall of 1957 and was a triple-threat halfback for the Cougars. He later starred in the American Football League with the San Diego Chargers, and also played with the Buffalo Bills.
Tim Pavish was hired as head of alumni relations and executive director of the WSU Alumni Association after a national search and assumed his duties Sept. 8. The Walla Walla native and 1980 graduate of the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication was a managing partner of DDB Worldwide Inc. in Seattle, the largest communications agency in the state.
