History with Chuck: Glenn Fine ’74, Inspector General of the DoJ/DoD, Rhodes Scholar & only CHS alum to be drafted by the NBA

Glenn Fine and Linton S. Thorn, 1974 and 1947 graduates of Cheltenham High School, are the only CHS alumni to be awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Glenn was one of only 32 college students to win the scholarship in 1978 and graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard University in 1979. In June of 1979, Glenn, a captain of Harvard’s basketball team, was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, becoming the first and only CHS grad ever to be drafted. He passed up the opportunity to accept the Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford.

Glenn went on to become the principal deputy Inspector General of the Department of Defense and Acting IG of the Department of Defense. He was appointed Inspector General of the Department of Justice by President Bill Clinton in 2000.

U.S. Army photo by Monica King/Released

The Melrose Park native was the fourth and last Rhodes Scholar to be chosen in the NBA Draft. The other three were: Bill Bradley of Princeton University, Tom McMillen from the University of Maryland, and the late Heywood Dotson of Columbia University.

Established in 1902 by the will of Cecil J. Rhodes, a South African diamond miner and founder of Rhodesia, the Rhodes Scholarship provides for two years of study at Oxford University in England.

For more on Glenn’s life and career, you can click here.

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Feature photo and information provided by Chuck Langerman, local historian