INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has selected George Maude of the University of Indianapolis as this year’s recipient of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award, it was announced Wednesday by the Conference office.
Maude will be formally recognized at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Spring Awards Reception in St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, May 21.
The Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award is presented to an individual or group that has contributed to the success of the GLVC, as it relates to the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion, and service.
Maude served as the clock operator for Indianapolis men’s and women’s basketball games for 35 years, only missing one game during that period. He was regarded highly for his work and was well respected by league officials, referees, and colleagues from other institutions. Maude’s polite, professional manner were characteristics that benefited everyone around him, and he rarely made errors in a position that requires a tremendous amount of focus and attention to detail.
UIndy honored Maude with a memento at his final game as clock operator on March 11, 2023, in appreciation for his dedication and service to the school and the league. He was a loyal friend, donor, fitness member, and advocate for UIndy, D-II, and the GLVC during his 35 years with Greyhounds basketball.
The GLVC Service Award is named in honor of Dr. Thomas Kearns, who was Northern Kentucky’s faculty athletic representative for 23 years and provided unparalleled service to the GLVC during that period. Kearns served the GLVC as both treasurer and president during his tenure at NKU and assisted with the budget reporting system and the current revenue sharing policy. He spearheaded the league’s first major expansion, wrote the GLVC Hall of Fame guidelines, served on the initial GLVC Awards Committee and developed and maintained the GLVC Handbook. Kearns spent countless hours developing the GLVC into one of the premier NCAA Division II athletic conferences.
The award was first presented in 2011 to Northern Kentucky’s Kevin Listerman, and has since been awarded to SIU Edwardsville’s Eric Hess (2012), USI’s David and Lois Stevens (2013), Kentucky Wesleyan’s Roy Pickerill (2014), USI’s Ray and Cindy Bippus (2015), Doug McCarty and Dan Cunningham (2016) of the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois, Saint Joseph’s College’s Bill and Teresa Massoels (2017), Missouri S&T’s John Kean (2018), UIndy’s Dr. Lawrence Sondhaus (2019), all 15 member institution athletic training staffs (2021), Crawfordsville High School Athletics Director, Bryce Barton, Aquatics Director, Kevin Hedrick, Assistant Aquatics Director, Sarah Dowd, and Montgomery County Visitors & Convention Bureau Executive Director, Heather Shirk (2022), and Bellarmine’s Dr. Ann Jirkovsky (2023). The award was not presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.