Jim Tyler Hometown: Bismarck, North Dakota High School: Norwood-Norfolk Central (Norwood, New York) Position: Director ('05-'08 term) Monograms Earned: Cross Country & Track

Former All-America distance runner Jim Tyler ('86) - who currently resides in Bismarck, N.D., where he is co-owner of E.A.P.C. Architects and Engineers - has joined the Monogram Club board and will serve his three-year term from 2005-08.

Originally from Norwood, N.Y., Tyler ended up in North Dakota during eight years serving as an officer in the Air Force, stationed at Grand Forks from 1988-96. He met his wife Karen, a Grand Forks native, during that time and first became involved with Grand Forks-based E.A.P.C. in 1997, after serving two years as a consulting engineer. E.A.P.C. is a 55-person firm that specializes in medical and higher-education project design.

Tyler's stay in N.D. benefited the other ND that is close to his heart, as he quickly erased the only state that did not have a Notre Dame alumni club by founding the Notre Dame Club of North Dakota in 2003 (he currently serves as the club's president).

A 1986 Notre Dame graduate in mechanical engineering (three years before his fellow board member Barbara Mooney would earn the same degree), Tyler worked as a quality control temp for IBM in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before joining the Air Force's Officer Training Program. His time in the Air Force allowed him to continue training as a competitive runner while he also earned his MBA from Central Michigan University ('94) through a special postgraduate program arranged by the Air Force.

Tyler - who was a three-year board member with the Kiwanis Club of Fargo from '01-'03 - first served as a staff mechanical engineer with E.A.P.C. before eventually becoming a co-owner, starting in 2000.

Bill Hurd earned indoor and outdoor All-America honors in 1968 but no Notre Dame track-and-field competitor had matched that feat until nearly 20 years later, when Tyler's return for a fifth year of eligibility paid great dividends in the 1986 spring semester. It was then that he anchored the 4x800 relay that placed third at the NCAA indoor meet before registering an eighth-place finish in the NCAA outdoor 1,500 meters.

Jim Tyler anchored Notre Dame's historic 4x800 relay team at the 1986 NCAA indoor meet.

Notre Dame's historic showing in the 4x800 relay represented the fifth-fastest time in the history of that event at the NCAAs. John McNelis started the relay off that day in Oklahoma City with a time of 1:52.4 before Robert Nobles (1:50.4) and Jeff Van Wie (1:49.8) ran the middle legs. Tyler (1:48.9) then kicked into overdrive and nearly crossed the finish-line first, as Notre Dame's time of 7:21.01 narrowly trailed champion Arkansas (7:20.72) and runner-up Georgetown.

The four middle-distance runners won the prestigious Drake Relays a month later (7:20.74) and went on to be named the Notre Dame "Male Athletes of the Year" by Notre Dame Scholastic magazine.

Tyler's All-America finish in the outdoor 1,500 (3:42.16) made him the second Notre Dame runner ever to post the equivalent of a sub-4:00 mile. His other indoor track highlights included winning the 1983 Midwestern Collegiate Conference 1,000-yard title (2:14.0) before finishing second to eventual NCAA champ Jim Spivey at the Indiana Intercollegiate in an NCAA qualifying time of 2:09.0 that tied the ND record shared by Ed Dean ('66) and Joe Quigley ('69). He also helped set the ND medley relay record at the '83 Central Collegiates, was runner-up in the '84 MCC indoor 1,000 (2:17.55) and won the '96 Indiana Intercollegiate 1,500-meter race (3:48.66).

Jim Tyler - now co-owner of an architecture and engineering firm - was the first Notre Dame track performer in 18 years to earn indoor and outdoor All-America honors.

The Olympic hopeful's career highlights in outdoor track included winning the 1983 Indiana Intercollegiate 1,500 (3:48.82), running his 1,200-meter leg in 2:25 as part of the runner-up medley relay team at the '83 Mt. SAC meet (ND record time of 9:36.2) and finishing as the 1,500 runner-up at the '84 Indiana Intercollegiate (3:52.69) and MCC meet (3:49.80), plus a 6th-place showing in the 1984 IC4A mile (4:12.03) and a 5th-place finish in the 1,500 at the 1986 IC4As (3:45.27).

Tyler also excelled in cross country, serving as a two-time Notre Dame team captain ('84 and '85) with his top finishes including 3rd at the 1984 MCCs (qualified for NCAAs) and 4th in the '85 MCC race.

As a senior at Norwood-Norfolk Central High School, Tyler set the New York state record for the indoor mile (4:15.3) and was the nation's No. 5-ranked prep miler in 1981. He also played two years of both basketball and soccer at NNHS.

Jim and Karen Tyler - who was appointed in 2001 by governor John Hoeven of North Dakota to be a member of his cabinet, as securities commissioner - reside in Bismarck with their daughter Kathryn (9) and son Brennan (6).