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SKS
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Alumni Profiles
A
s Ken Stuart tells us, the
reason why he came to
Storm King was because he
was not a good student and
needed to learn how to study.
When we tell him that sounds
like a remarkably honest
observation for a teenager
to make about themselves,
he lets loose with a booming
laugh. “Oh, that wasn’t my
assessment! But it was the cor-
rect assessment.”
Without the distractions
he had at home, and under
the guidance of his Study Hall
teachers, Ken quickly found
his footing, learned that he
enjoyed math, and soon
found himself at prestigious
American University, pursing
his degree in Mathematics.
“Although the math was a lot
harder there then it was at
Storm King!” Still, Ken had
learned from SKS that
studying always comes first.
Even though he established
himself as one of the best
tennis players on campus, he
avoided joining the varsity
team until he was sure it
would not interfere with his
studies. He consoled himself
by playing intramural tennis
instead, and in 1967 won the
Intramural Athlete of the Year
award.
Shortly after entering
the work force, Ken found
himself back at school getting
his Masters degree in business
from Fordham University.
With his characteristic humil-
ity, Ken tells us “That was
easy for some reason!”
Ken Stuart ’65
Ken has since retired from
his office job, and now spends
his days doing financial plan-
ning and writing the occa-
sional series of articles for his
Alma Mater on planned giv-
ing (see Ken’s article on page
24.) He has also acquired a
head spinning collection of
autographed sports memora-
bilia that fills his home. Not
content to have the same
old autographed baseballs
everyone else has, Ken makes
sure when he meets a famous
athlete to request something
a little out of the ordinary.
When he met Yankees pitch-
ing great Mariano Rivera,
he asked Rivera to sign a
baseball “Last to wear #42.”
As baseball fans know, 42 was
Jackie Robinson’s number and
was retired across the entire
league in 1997. However, all
players who were wearing 42
at the time were allowed to
keep it; 13 years later Rivera
is the only one from that
group still playing. He also
has a pair of boxer shorts that
Mohammed Ali signed using
both his current name as well
as his former name, Cassius
Clay. How did he convince
the boxing legend to do that?
“I told him that I remembered
him coming to American
University to speak in the 60s
back when he was Cassius
Clay, so he agreed. Of course,
what I didn’t tell him is that I
actually never made it to his
lecture because I had to
study!”
For Ken Stuart, the Moun-
tain’s lessons have stayed with
him no matter what.
Ken Stuart’s collection of autographed sports memorabilia. Not content to have the same autographed
baseballs everyone else has, Ken makes sure when he meets a famous athlete to request something a little
out of the ordinary.
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