American International College

Al Laude, of the class of 1955, was one of the best football players to ever grace the program. Laude was a three-year varsity starting fullback and linebacker for the Yellow Jackets.

During his time as a Yellow Jacket, Laude was an integral part of the team's success. In his first varsity season, he was second on the team in both total offense and scoring. In that season, he had four touchdowns and 447 total yards. In his junior season, he had a team leading nine touchdowns and 561 total yards of offense. During his senior season, Laude once again led the team in scoring with four touchdowns and was second on the team in total offense with 315 yards.

During his time at AIC, Laude was awarded the Carocari Memorial Sportsmanship Award was named an honorable mention Little All-American, served as a captain in 1953, and was also name the MVP during the 1953 season. Coach Henry Butova called him the "perfect athlete".

After graduation, he was named to the All-Time AIC Football team.

From 1967-71, Laude was the Assistant Principal at Westfield High School before heading to be the Principal of Frontier Regional School from 1971-77. In 1977 he become the Superintendent of Schools in Deerfield, Massachusetts, a post he held for 10 years. During this time he also coached baseball at Classical High School and football at Agawam High School.

Prior to his time at AIC, Laude enlisted in the Army straight out of high school and served two years during World War II before returning home.