2012 Hall of Fame Inductee

ROBERT D. "BOB" HOOPER

Football (1952-55)
Baseball (1953-56)
Inducted in 2012

One of Delaware’s top student-athletes of the 1950’s, Hooper starred in football and baseball and was selected as the 1956 UD Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year. He was a member of Blue Hen football teams that posted a three-year record of 23-4 under Hall of Fame coach David Nelson and baseball teams that went 37-20-1. After spending two years as a backup to All-American Don Miller, Hooper took over the starting quarterback spot as a senior and led the squad to an 8-1 record as he threw for 665 yards and led all passers in the East with nine touchdowns. The Mill Creek, Pa. native also led the team in interceptions and served as punter and kicker for the 1955 squad. He was a three-year regular in baseball and enjoyed an outstanding senior year in 1956 when he joined the pitching rotation and posted a record of 9-0 with a 1.64 earned run average and 48 strikeouts for Hall of Fame coach Tubby Raymond. The 1956 squad went 14-2 and became the first UD team to advance to the NCAA Tournament. He earned his degree in biology from Delaware in 1956 and his degree in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. He served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps and ran his own private practice in the Newark, Del. area from 1965 until 2000 before retiring. An avid golfer, he served as a U.S. Open Rules Official for nearly 30 years and received the United States Golf Association (USGA) Joseph Dey Award for service in 2006. He and his wife, Carolyn, have been married for 55 years and reside in Hockessin, Del. Two of their three daughters earned degrees from Delaware.