The Hobart and William Smith community recently learned of the passing of Hobart Hall of Famer Arthur W. Lambert, 91, of Randallstown, Maryland, who died in July 2023. A 1958 graduate of Hobart, he was an all-star in football and basketball for the Statesmen and was inducted into the Hobart Athletics Hall of Fame with the Class of 1988.
 
Lambert was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and three-year letterwinner in football.
 
As a quarterback, Lambert guided some of the best teams in Hobart football history. In his three years at the helm of the offense, the Statesmen posted a record of 18-2-1 and the 6-0 team of 1957 is the most recent undefeated team in Hobart history. He earned All-American honors as a senior and was the team's Most Valuable Player in 1956 and 1957. Lambert set all the school's passing records, most of which stood for a decade. Perhaps Lambert's most impressive record was the total offense record of 2,319 yards in three seasons which stood into the 1970s.
 
In 1957, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle described Lambert as:

"the best two-way player on the field … wearing the cloak of many roles."
 
"Now he was a passer disguised as a howitzer, once booming the ball 55 yards for a nullified touchdown ….. now he was an expert seamstress, threading the needle with short pitches in the flat …. now he was a magician, hiding the ball so well that even sideline viewers were fooled …. now he was downright defiant, at one stage carrying the ball four straight times himself down the middle …. and now he was a Gibraltor [sic] on defense."

 
Lambert also left his mark on the Hobart basketball record book. Captain of the team in 1956, he led the squad in scoring for three seasons and was only the second player in Hobart history to pass the 1,000 career point mark. Second on the all-time scoring list with 1,068 points when he graduated, he averaged 15.3 points per game is the sixth best mark in Hobart basketball history.
 
One of the Iron Men of Hobart, so dubbed by basketball coach Spike Garnish because they played every minute of the 1957-58 schedule, Lambert came to Hobart after serving in the U.S. Air Force. In fact, he played for the Sampson Air Force Base basketball team.
 
Lambert graduated from Hobart with a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics. He worked in the insurance industry well into his 80s.