University of Massachusets Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2011
- Class:
- 1956
One of the all-time UMass greats in cross country and track & field, Robert "Squeaky" Horn was a major part of the Redmen's success in the early- and mid-1950s.
Horn won the 1956 New England Championship in the Two Mile Steeplechase as a senior, while helping UMass to the Connecticut Valley, Yankee Conference, and New England Championships during his time at UMass. He helped lead the Redmen to the 1953 New England Cross Country Team Championship as a sophomore by posting the second-best time on the team marking the first UMass Cross Country New England championship.
Horn was named the 1956 Massachusetts Collegian Athlete of the Year and was a three-time winner of the Chester F. Bowen, Jr. Outstanding Performance in Track: as a sophomore in 1953, junior in 1954 and a senior in 1955.
All told, Horn won nine varsity letters; three each in Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track. Other awards for Horn include the 1953 Varsity M Club Leadership Award for Cross Country; the Llewellyn L. Derby Leadership Trophy for Cross Country as a junior in 1954 and a senior in 1955; the 1955 Massachusetts Collegian Cross Country Man of the Year as a senior. In 1955 he captained the Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track teams and he broke "numerous UMass course records in Cross Country as well as setting the school record in the indoor and outdoor two mile"
Following his time at UMass, Horn joined the Army where he was a combat leader during the Vietnam War. He retired with the rank of Colonel. Horn also served as an aide to Gen. Alexander Haig during Haig's term as the NATO Commander. Horn is also a "Dean of Business Emeritus" and "award-winning collegiate professor."
He was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame in the Class of 2011.
