2020 Inductees
Christopher D. Lantz
Chris Lantz is entering his 25th year in higher education
with the last 18 serving in several leadership roles. He enters his fourth year
as the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Health and Human
Services at UNC Wilmington. Prior to that he served for five years as the
director of the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences. Prior to coming to
UNCW, Lantz was a tenured professor in the department of health and exercise
sciences at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., serving as the
department's chair from 2002-2012. Prior to his career in higher education,
Lantz was the founding director of a hospital-based community wellness center.
Lantz holds a Doctor of Education in sport behavior from West Virginia
University, a Master of Arts in sport psychology from UNC Chapel Hill and a
Bachelor of Arts in psychology from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Lantz has
received several teaching and leadership awards including the Robert M. Taylor
Professional Service and the Scholar of the Year awards from the Missouri
Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He also
served as the association's president and chaired its research section for nine
years. Lantz has served on a variety of boards and committees with the
Association for Applied Sport Psychology, American Red Cross, Blue Ribbon
Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence, Council for Undergraduate
Research, Phi Lambda Phi National Fraternity and WVU CPASS.
Gary J. Quinn
Gary Quinn began his career at NBC Sports as a graduate
intern from the West Virginia University sport management program in May of
1995 and has worked his way to his current role as vice president of programming
and owned properties. Over the last twenty-five years, he has successfully
cultivated the growth of the NBC Owned Properties Group. His group is
responsible for the creation, operation and development of events such as the
American Century Championship, National Dog Show, PNC Championship and
All-American Bowl. Under Quinn’s watch these properties have generated more
than $250 million in profit for the division. Over the last decade, Quinn has
added programming acquisition and the management of programming partnerships to
his roles and responsibilities. He oversees the relationships with each of the
USA Olympic governing bodies, Notre Dame football, Triple Crown and Breeders’
Cup horse racing and various international rugby organizations. He currently
manages more than 1,000 hours of programming across NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic
Channel. Recently, Quinn used his entrepreneurial spirit to create NBC Sports
Pub Pass, a subscription service for bars and restaurants.
James L. Taylor
James L. Taylor was born in
Charles Town, WV on February 26, 1934. He enlisted in the US Navy after
graduating from high school and served in the Korean War. He then graduated
from Shepherd College (now Shepherd University) with a BS and AB degrees. He
earned a Master of Science degree in 1965 from WVU. At Shepherd College, Taylor
played football and was the first African American to play on the team, which
became the first undefeated and untied team in the history of the college. He
then became a teacher and coach at his former high school, Page-Jackson High
School in Jefferson County and went on to teach and coach at Charles Town Jr.
High, Charles Town High School, the new Harpers Ferry Job Corps facility and
Jefferson High School. He retired from teaching in 1995. In September of 2000,
Taylor was one of four men who founded the Jefferson County Black History
Society, Inc. Taylor wrote about Jimmy Winkfield, the last jockey of color to
win the Kentucky Derby, in his first book and has written or co-authored
numerous others. Taylor was married to his wife Dorothy Young Taylor for 64
years, until her death in July 2020. He and his wife have two children.
Keli M. Zinn
Keli Zinn serves as the deputy athletics director and is responsible for assisting the director of athletics with the overall administration of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. As the department's primary liaison to the University central administration, she works closely with the WVU general counsel, strategic initiatives, finance and human resources. Zinn also serves as the administrator to the WVU football program. In December of 2014, President E. Gordon Gee appointed Zinn
the school’s interim director of athletics as she became the first female to
lead the University’s athletics department. A native of Petersburg, WV, Zinn
came to WVU in 2010 as associate athletics director for governance and compliance
from the University of Maryland, where she was named assistant athletics director
for compliance in 2005. Previously, Zinn served as compliance assistant at the
BIG EAST Conference in Providence, RI. Zinn has been involved in numerous
national, conference and University committees over the years. In 2019, the
Sports Business Journal named Zinn as a recipient of the prestigious Forty
Under 40 Awards. She was honored as the Distinguished Alumnus of the CPASS sport
management program in 2018 and selected among the SportsBusiness Journal’s Game
Changers in 2016. Zinn is a graduate of WVU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in sport management. She and her husband, Nathaniel, reside in Morgantown.