MOREHEAD -- Harlen Lee Hamm, a speech professor at Morehead State
University, died Saturday at his home, apparently of cancer. He was 53.
Mr. Hamm, of 54 West Scott Court in Clearfield, started at
Morehead State in 1965 at University Breckinridge School, where he
coached the speech team, directed plays and taught classes for grades
K-12. He started teaching university classes in 1978 and until recently
coordinated Morehead's forensics program, one of the best in the nation.
Earlier this year he received Morehead State's Founders Day Award for University Service.
Mr. Hamm received a bachelor's degree from Morehead State in 1964
and a master's degree in speech and theater from Bowling Green State
University in Ohio in 1965.
He was named Kentucky Speech Teacher of the Year by the Kentucky
Speech Association and Outstanding Southern Speech Teacher of the Year
by the Southern Speech Association.
Mr. Hamm was inducted into the Kentucky High School Speech League
Hall of Fame, Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame and the
Harlen L. Hamm Forensic Hall of Fame at MSU.
He is survived by his mother, Mildred Sheppard Hamm of Felicity,
Ohio; three half brothers, Gary Lanham of Morehead, Johnny Lanham of
Kingsland, Ga., and Bob Lanham of Felicity; and several nieces and
nephews.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Northcutt and Son Home for
Funerals. Visitation will be after 5 p.m. today. Contributions are
suggested to the Harlen Lee Hamm Scholarship Fund, c/o MSU Foundation.