John Hanna '40 to Receive US Golf Association's Joe Dey Award

December 11, 2002

December 11, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - "I am greatly surprised because I don't think my volunteer service was anything special," says John P. Hanna, a 1940 graduate of DePauw University, who has been selected by the United States Golf Association (USGA) to receive its annual Joe Dey Award. "It was something I liked doing so much." Given in recognition of meritorious service to the game of golf as a volunteer, the award will be presented Feb. 1 at the Association's Annual Meeting in San Diego. Established in 1996, the award is named in honor of the late Joe Dey, who served as USGA executive director for 35 years, from 1934 to 1969, and later served as commissioner of the PGA Tour.

The 84-year-old Hanna, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, has served as an ambassador for the Chick Evans Scholarship Program of the Western Golf Association since 1981. Created in 1930 to honor amateur golfer and former caddie Charles "Chick" Evans, who in 1916 became the first player to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open, the Evans Scholarship Program has helped 7,500 academic achievers who were also caddies attend college. Today it is the nation's largest privately funded scholarship program, with an $8 million budget and more than 825 current scholars. An Evans Scholarship is a one-year full tuition and housing scholarship, renewable for four years.

A news release posted at PGATour.com says "Hanna wouldn't have attended DePauw University in Indiana without a academic scholarship from a rich railroad benefactor. Upon graduating from DePauw, he won a scholarship to Northwestern University and earned his law degree." It also notes, "A corporate lawyer and a member of the Chicago Bar Association for 50 years, Hanna served as a Navy lieutenant in World War II and the Korean War," and adds that Hanna has donated to the Evans Program each year since 1966, and served 16 years as chairman or co-chairman of the scholarship committee.