Penn State Intercom......May 24, 2001

Indoor track dedicated to
alumnus Olympic gold medalist

Penn State officials recently dedicated the 200-meter indoor track at the University's Multi-Sport Facility in honor of Olympic gold medalist and alumnus Horace Ashenfelter and his wife, Lillian, of Glen Ridge, N.J.

The naming of the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track recognizes both Ashenfelter's athletic prowess and the couple's generosity. Ashenfelter won the gold medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, setting a new world record, in the 1952 Olympic games in Helsinki, Finland. While at the University, he was the NCAA two-mile champion in 1949 and finished second in the 1947 NCAA cross-country championships.

The Ashenfelters recently made a major financial gift to University's Department of Athletics, to benefit the track and field program.

Horace Ashenfelter entered Penn State in 1942, and then joined the U.S. Air Force a year later, serving as a fighter pilot before resuming his studies and obtaining his degree in physical education in 1949. He became an FBI agent in 1950, and returned to Penn State for a master's degree, which he received in 1955. He left the FBI in 1959 for a job with Englehard Industries, a precious-metal refining and processing company, and remained in the precious-metals industry until he retired in 1993.

In 1952, the year he won the Olympic gold medal, Horace Ashenfelter was the recipient of the James Edward Sullivan Award, given to the nation's top amateur athlete. He also competed in the 1956 Olympics.

He received All-America honors four times and won 15 gold medals in AAU championships. In 1975 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Back