UMass Lowell Athletics

(1984) - Another true student-athlete in every sense of the term, Walter Lisien Sr. would not only be one of Lowell Textile Institute's fine student-athletes of the 1940's, but would later serve the school for 25 years as a professor of chemistry.

A five-year student because he was granted a position as a student-instructor, Lisien was a fine basketball and baseball player for LTI. He was the basketball team's leading scorer as a junior and senior and was many times the team's individual high scorer. Against Siena, in what was the best game of the 1941-42 season, Lisien led LTI to a triple overtime triumph by hitting the free throw to win the game, 59-58.

One of the better baseball players on teams weakened by the war effort, Lisien was a fine fielder and a steady hitter. He was also class vice president in 1940-41 and received the Academic-Athlete Award as the top student-athlete.

After graduating LTI in 1943, Lisien joined the armed services and was stationed at Oak Ridge, TN. There, he worked on the Manhattan Project for the US Army. After being discharged from the army, he taught chemistry at LTI until his retirement in 1971.