Former Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen to receive Dick Enberg Award at CoSIDA Convention

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Former Pacific-10 (Pac-10) Conference Commissioner Tom Hansen has been selected as the recipient of the 2010 Dick Enberg Award and will receive the award at the College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA) workshop in San Francisco, California.
The presentation will be on evening of July 6th as part of CoSIDA Hall of Fame Gala celebration which will honor both the CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2010 and the Academic All-America Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

Hansen, who was the Commissioner of the Pac-10 for 26 years, will be the 14th individual to be honored since the award’s inception in 1997.

The Dick Enberg Award is annually presented to a person whose actions and commitment have furthered the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America® Teams Program and/or the student-athlete while promoting the values of education and academics.

The award was created to recognize Dick Enberg’s passion and support of the Academic All-America® program for more than 20 years, as well as his dedication to education for more than four decades.

“I'm sincerely pleased and honored that Tom Hansen has accepted the 2010 Enberg Award. Tom has long served as an unassuming, but strong leader, one who has continually pursued excellence in academics and athletics” Enberg says. “His dedication to the Academic All-America program has brought a national focus on what we admire most about the student-athlete.”

“Tom Hansen’s long and distinguished career in college athletics has positively influenced a wide variety of people, none more so than the many student-athletes whose experiences he made better through his leadership,” says Justin Doherty of the University of Wisconsin, the 2009-10 CoSIDA president. “The list of past Dick Enberg Award winners reads like a ‘who’s who’ of college athletics and Tom Hansen’s name certainly adds to the prestige of that select group.”

In addition to his tenure as Commissioner, Hansen served seven years, 1960-67, as Director of Public Relations for the Pac-10, giving him a total of 33 years of service to the Conference. He was a member of the NCAA staff for 16 years in between his two stints with the Pac-10. Hansen was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame earlier this year.

"Selection for the award bearing the name of Dick Enberg, a very special person and avid supporter of the best values of college athletics, is a unique honor, as is my association in this manner with the past winners,” Hansen remarks. “Each of them was dedicated to the student-athlete and to encouraging them to take advantage of the academic opportunities their athletic participation made possible.

"College athletics is an important element of the university, for its students, alumni and friends, but it must maintain an appropriate relationship to the institution's academic mission. The Enberg Award reminds us of the primacy of education in that mission and salutes the academic achievements of student-athletes. I am honored to be recognized for my efforts toward those goals during my career."

The Pac-10 Conference enjoyed unparalleled success during Hansen’s tenure as conference teams won 204 NCAA championships during his years as Commissioner, a total surpassing any other conference by a wide margin. Accomplishments off the field have been equally impressive. Among the developments since Hansen assumed the commissioner position were the inauguration of the Pac-10’s nationally prominent women’s sports programs, dramatic expansion of the Conference football and basketball television programs, a prominent role in the development of the Bowl Championship Series and establishment of a strong lineup of bowl partners.

Long active in NCAA affairs, Hansen chaired and served on numerous NCAA committees, including the NCAA Oversight and Monitoring Group, the Division I Task Force on Recruiting, the Governance Subcommittee, the Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee, the Gender Equity Task Force, the Amateurism Clearinghouse Advisory Group and the Nominating and Special Events Committee, among others. He also has served as President of NCAA Football and the Collegiate Commissioners Association and been on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Northern California Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame, and served on that organization’s national Honor’s Court.

Among the honors bestowed on Hansen during his tenure at the Pac-10 were the NACDA Award for Administrative Excellence, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award, and the Foundation’s Northern California Chapter Distinguished American Award.

While at the NCAA, where he was an assistant executive director, among primary assignments were administration for the football television program, the Men’s Basketball Championship and the Committee on Women’s Athletics. He also represented the NCAA in Washington, D.C.

PREVIOUS DICK ENBERG AWARD WINNERS 
1997: Dick Enberg
1998: John Humenik
1999: Dean Smith
2000: Bill Russell
2001: Donna Shalala
2002: Alan Page
2003: Tom Osborne
2004: Ted Leland
2005: Father Theodore Hesburgh
2006: President Gerald R. Ford
2007: Pat Summitt
2008: Chuck Lee
2009: Steve Smith
2010: Tom Hansen