Hall of Fame video
There is probably no member of the Drury Sports Hall of Fame whose “Panther” roots run deeper than Mark Stillwell. Mark was born into the Drury Family and his entire formal education took place on the banks of Benton Avenue. His father served as Drury’s business manager, vice-president and interim president during his 1945-1971 tenure at Drury. Mark was a “Drury guy” long before his graduation on May 28, 1967. He has since traveled the world as a proud member of the U.S. Navy and has travelled America as one of the most respected and accomplished college sports information directors of his time, reporting on athletics competition from events in 40 different states.
While virtually all his sports information career was as a member of the Missouri State community, Mark is back “home” today. While he is a Bear, he is also a Panther: a true hybrid. Today Mark is being inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame for his lifetime of achievements, service and his impeccable character, the roots of which are planted on the Drury campus.
One of the nation’s most respected college sports information directors, Mark was an English major at Drury and he served several years as the Panthers’ SID, including handling radio play-by-play duties for Drury basketball, before taking a similar position in 1972 at what is now Missouri State University. After nearly 37 years as the Bears’ first full-time Sports Information Director, he retired in December of 2008. Mark guided the information and publications effort for MSU athletics through the Bears’ MIAA, Mid-Continent, Gateway and Missouri Valley Conference days and as the program moved from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I status and made NCAA tournament team appearances in 10 sports. Mark was honored with more than 60 publications and writing awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CoSIDA in 2008 and last summer was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame (Class of 2019). Mark was previously inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame as the first winner of the Paul Morrison Award (2008), Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame (2009), Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame (2010), and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (2016).
The true picture of Mark, however, goes well beyond his career accomplishments. To say he is an avid St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan is a gross understatement. He and his wife, Tina, continue to travel the world and some of his great loves are of the four-legged kind. His desire to serve others goes beyond the human world as president of the board of directors of the Southwest Missouri Humane Society, tasked with providing homes and care for animals. He is also on the board of the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame and the Drury Alumni Council, and has worked for 15 seasons as an official scorekeeper at Hammons Field for the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League.
Drury has been interwoven throughout the Stillwell family for generations. Mark and Tina are joined today by Drury graduates Paul Stillwell (brother), Joe Stillwell (nephew), Steve Chasteen (brother-in-law), Casey Chasteen (niece) and other family members, friends and fans. It is most fitting that on this day, Saturday, January 11, 2020, with family and friends present, the Drury Community recognizes Mark for a career that took him all over the world, yet he never left home. Today Mark Stillwell is “home” and is forever enshrined as a member of the Drury Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2019).
NOTE
Mark also served 28 years in the U.S. Navy, serving on active duty from 1967 to 1970 in the western Pacific, Vietnam, Taiwan and Korea. He was a deck, weapons and public affairs officer aboard the amphibious assault aircraft carrier USS Princeton (LPH-5). He served in the Navy Reserve for 21 years after his active duty time, held command of four different Springfield Navy Reserve units, and retired from the Navy in 1991 with the rank of Captain.
