Two Indian Lake graduates were honored as the newest members of the Indian Lake Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. Mike Kinnan from the Class of 1966 and Randy Kelly of the Class of 1977 were honored in a ceremony after the Board meeting Monday night.
Kelly served as Class President and FFA President while lettering in basketball and cross country during his high school career. He began his career at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty and soon became a globally recognized authority in crash-test technology.
As Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for the Robert A. Denton Company, Kelly expanded the use of life-saving sensors and crash-test dummies across Europe and Asia. In 2024, he co-founded EUROAMERICA-LLC, which continues his work in crash-test safety.
Since returning to Logan County, Kelly has become involved with Behind the Badge and is very active with the United Way Lunch Buddies Program at Indian Lake Elementary.
Kelly talks about being honored:
The other alumnus honored was Mike Kinnan. Kinnan, who resides in Titusville, FL, joined the ceremony via Zoom due to a recent health issue.
Kinnan was voted Most Likely to Succeed by his peers and lived up to that confidence by serving 41 years at NASA. His responsibilities included failure analysis and managing payloads for missions to Mars and Jupiter.
Kinnan made valuable contributions to the Space Shuttle and International Space Station projects and worked with astronauts from several international partner countries, including Russia, Italy, and Japan.
At NASA, he was given numerous distinguished awards, including the Astronaut Silver Snoopy Award and multiple Exceptional Service Awards.
Since his retirement, Kinnan has been heavily involved at his church, has obtained his chaplaincy certification, and is a ballroom dancing instructor.
