W. James (Jim) Kirchhoff, '57, lettered in basketball for four seasons, tennis for three and golf for one.
Kirchhoff made an immediate impact in his first season of basketball, scoring 159 points in a reserve role and contributing to the Cougars' first-ever CIT title in 1954. Over the next three years, he became a regular starter at guard while leading the Cougars to three consecutive conference championships, the second of which was won when Kirchhoff sank the game-winning shot against Mission House. Kirchhoff scored a team-leading 378 points during his junior year, a season in which he received all-conference honors and was named to the CIT All-Tournament team. He finished his career with 931 points despite missing a month during his senior year due to a concussion suffered in an early-season game.
In tennis, Kirchhoff played at first singles all three years. He earned 16 career singles victories and earned all-conference honors twice. Kirchhoff helped the team to a third-place conference finish in 1954, a season in which circumstances severely limited the number of matches the team could play.
Kirchhoff, the president of the Concordia student body during his senior year, earned his B.S. in education from Concordia in 1957, his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1965 and his doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University in 1976. He worked at Lutheran grade schools in Chicago, Park Forest and Naperville in numerous capacities including principal, teacher, athletic director, organist and choir director. Kirchhoff has also served the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod through his work on commissions for ministerial growth and support, and for higher education. Between 1980 and 1982, Kirchhoff was President for the Lutheran Education Association. He was an education executive for the Northern Illinois District from 1979 to 2002 and chairman for the Illinois Coalition of Non-Public Schools from 1997 to 2002.
