The son of a highly respected and renowned professor of geography (Dr. Ed Hamming), Bruce arrived on the Augustana campus in the fall of 1971 out of the halls of Rock Island High School. When he left Augustana in May of 1975 his name was linked forever with one of the most successful runs of any athletic team in school history. During his career the Vikings went 101-18 overall, 57-7 in the CCIW, won three league titles and finished second once and advanced to the Final Four in the NAIA in 1973 and NCAA Division III in 1975.
Success certainly followed the nearly seven foot tall Hamming, whether it be in athletics or academics. He was an NCAA post graduate scholarship recipient upon graduation and twice was named to the College Sports Information Directors Academic All-America team. He was named one of the NCAA’s “Top Five” student-athletes of 1975 along with two time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin of Ohio State and future NFL Pro-Bowler John Sciarra of UCLA. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and was the winner of a prestigious Avery Brundige Scholarship for post-graduate work from 1975-79.
Hamming was an NAIA All-American in 1974 and an NCAA Division III All-American in 1975. Twice he was a first team all-conference performer and he holds Augustana single game school records for field goals made with 20 against Wheaton on February 15, 1975 and for single season rebounds with 380 in 1973-74. He led the Vikings in both scoring and rebounding as a junior (17.6 ppg & 11.0 rpg) and as a senior (21.8 ppg & 13.1 rpg). He is currently third on the school’s all-time list for scoring with 1,596 points and rebounding with 1,060. He scored 632 points in 1973-74, which is the second highest total ever and he is also sixth on that list with 529 points in 1974-75. There have only been 20 players in Augustana history to score 1,000 career points and Hamming tallied 1,161 in his junior and senior seasons alone.
Bruce and his wife Mary have a pair of sons, Brian and Carl and the family resides in Lake Bluff, Illinois. A pre-medicine major at Augustana, he received his M.D. from the University of Illinois in 1979 and finished his internship and residency at Northwestern University Hospitals in 1984. He is currently an orthopedic surgeon at Lake Shore Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. He serves on the board of directors of the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association.
