Russ Wiebe was one of the pioneers of the Felician College
athletics department, and worked tirelessly to support Golden
Falcon student-athletes until his untimely death in May 2009.
Wiebe was instrumental in helping intercollegiate athletics at
Felician begin and then thrive. He served on the initial
exploratory committee tasked with starting a sports program. When
the project came to fruition, he was named the school’s first
faculty athletics representative (at that point, to the NAIA).
Wiebe briefly left Felician from 2002-05, spending three years
teaching at Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone. He also
coached the Knights’ girls’ basketball team for two
seasons. Both prior to leaving the Golden Falcons and upon his
return, he worked as an an assistant men’s basketball coach.
In total, he coached 12 seasons at Felician, working under five
head coaches.
At the time of his passing, Wiebe was beginning his third year as
Felician’s athletic academic advisor, functioning as the
primary liaison between coaches and faculty.
Wiebe spent 14 years as a professor of English at Felician. He
wrote the College’s first Honor Code, and chaired the Student
Ethics Task Force. In addition to serving on several College
committees, he authored or co-authored many scholarly publications
and conference papers.
Wiebe earned BA (1981) and MA (1988) degrees in English from
Portland State University before completing his Ph.D., also in
English, at Lehigh University in 1993. He began his professional
career as a visiting assistant professor at Lehigh in 1992.
In the season following his death, the 2009-10 men’s
basketball team set a school record for victories and won the CACC
championship. Team members dediciated the title to coach Wiebe.
Wiebe’s award will be accepted by his wife, Lynn, and
daughter, Ava. They reside in Maywood.
last updated 9/13/13
