Richard Soisson, a 1950 University of Notre Dame graduate from Kalamazoo, Mich., will receive the Notre Dame Alumni Association's Harvey G. Foster Award for distinugished civic and athletic endeavors.

He will be honored at a dinner at the Morris Inn today and at halftime of the Nore Dame-Michigan State football game Saturday.

Soisson is a full-time volunteer counselor at Kalamazoo's Hackett Catholic Central High School, where he coached for 41 years, taught for 30 years and headed the guidance office for 15 years before retiring in 1991. He also is treasurer of "Caring for Kids," which offers leadership workshops and drug education programs for high school students throughout Michigan. He was also recognized by the Michigan state senate for exemplary work with the youth of Kalamazoo.

Soisson served as president of the Notre Dame Club of Kalamazoo and received the club's 1999 award. His other awards include induction into the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Halls of Fame.

Soisson twice was named Michigan coach of the year, and the Hackett Catholic High football stadium was renamed in his honor in 1984, the year he became one of the first Michigan high school football coaches to reach 200 victories.

Soisson entered Notre Dame with a football scholarship from coach Frank Leahy, but only played one year before suffering a career-ending knee injury. He and his wife, Rosemary, had seven children, three of whom are Notre Dame graduates.

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