Grinstein Inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

Prof. Georges Grinstein, left, with Alumni Varsity Association Board of Directors member and past president Douglas Marino.

Computer Science Prof. Georges Grinstein, director of UMass Lowell’s Institute for Visualization and Perception Research and the Center for Biomolecular and Medical Informatics, has been inducted by the Alumni Varsity Association of the City College of New York (CCNY) into its 2008 Athletics Hall of Fame.

A 1967 CCNY graduate, Grinstein was honored as the school’s lacrosse scoring leader, with 48 goals in his senior year. “Georges still holds the record and is the definition of a deserving Hall of Famer,” says Joshua Phillippe, the association’s program coordinator.

The Selection Committee nominated inductees based not only on their “outstanding athletic achievement as an undergraduate” but also on the “reflection of honor on the College by outstanding post-graduate success in athletics or related fields of endeavor.” Moreover, the qualities of the nominees were considered “with respect to character, sportsmanship, and service to the College and to the community.”

Grinstein played soccer and lacrosse for four years at CCNY. He then played for the next 20 years with the New Jersey, Long Island, Philadelphia and Boston lacrosse clubs. He still plays lacrosse during summers in Groton and basketball with UMass Lowell students every other day.
 
Grinstein has been coaching for more than three decades: high school basketball in New York City from 1967 to 1972, and soccer at Auburn University in Montgomery, Ala., from 1976 and 1981. “I was able to get the Auburn team to the Southeastern Conference finals five years in a row,” he says.

Once back in Massachusetts, he coached soccer and basketball for his kids’ travel teams and the local high school, and the UML lacrosse club for a year in its infancy.

“My philosophy is that skills are continually learned and need to be worked on, that high performance requires work, and that playing offers a great deal of self esteem and fun,” he says.