Not everyone gets to photograph a living legend, but that’s what Campus Slate photographer Paul Moeller (B.S. ’71) did on April 20, 1971. On that Tuesday, NYIT students gathered outside the Old Westbury campus Student Activity Center (known then as the “Dairy Barn”) to meet one of the greatest sports celebrities of all time, former heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali. Instead of lecturing students on current issues, the sports legend asked students what they wanted him to discuss. Topics ranged from Howard Cosell to Ali’s retirement to a rematch with Joe Frazier. Paul recalls that almost the entire campus population turned out to hear Ali speak for 90 minutes. The cost of his appearance: $1,500.

“He was energetic, exciting, and very animated, as only Muhammed Ali couldbe,” says Paul. “I found him to be very enjoyable. He was the consummate showman.”

In addition to serving as photographer for The Campus Slate, Paul was president of the NYIT Alumni Federation during its early years. Later, he served as the vice president of sales and marketing for various Fortune 500 companies. Paul, now semi-retired, has started a family business with his son and daughter in Danbury, Conn., where, he says, “Life is good!”

To paraphrase a famous sportscaster, he’s just telling it like it is.

Muhammed Ali welcomed questions from NYIT students, who came out in droves to see the boxing legend at the Old Westbury campus in 1971.