Betty Keough, M.S. ’52, arrived on campus in the 1950s to complete a master’s in physical education. She served as a graduate assistant, which began an Illinois State connection that remains strong.
Keough taught elementary and junior high students, as well as at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School, before joining ISU’s faculty in 1955.
She was a member of the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance—now the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. Keough advanced the department as a teacher, mentor, and administrator.
She coordinated student teaching, placing students beyond the University’s Laboratory Schools into the community. She also introduced to the campus the idea of videotaping students during their classroom teaching assignments as an evaluation tool.
Keough served as the department’s acting chair just prior to retiring in 1985, at which time the Betty Keough Fund was established. The endowment funds an annual scholarship that supports a female junior or senior physical education major.
Her campus legacy lives on through the College of Applied Science and Technology as well. Keough was among the inaugural class of inductees to the college’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
She has held numerous statewide and national positions within her field. Now 86, she remains active in the local Audubon Society chapter and still enjoys attending women’s basketball and volleyball games.
Keough can be reached at 14098 Rhodes Road, Bloomington, IL 61705.
