Biography
More than 99.9% of Tom Hansen's professional life, over four decades, has been dedicated to amateur athletics. Since 1983, he has served the Pacific-10 Conference as commissioner. That is the same organization that was his entry point into the business of college athletics in 1960, when he was but a year out of college. In between his two Pac-10 stints, Hansen spent 16 years with the NCAA. It's been a long career and a rewarding one, not only for him personally, most importantly for the organizations he has served, the health of the college sports he has helped improve and for the many students that have benefited from his care and conscience.
And this year, the Hansen career is honored with the National Football Foundation Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. In announcing this, NFF Chairman Jon F. Hanson said, "As the commissioner of one of the leading conferences in education, athletics and particularly college football, we are pleased to honor Tom with this very special award. His many contributions and steadfast commitment to the game are emblematic of the Foundation's overall mission."
Years ago, the depth of Hansen's commitment was made clear when he was asked what was good about college athletics.
"I think it's the greatest possible learning experience for a young man or woman," Hansen reflected. "There are so many lessons to be learned, some good and some bad, but all of the lessons teach you how to prepare, how to compete, how to accept an outcome. It certainly teaches you how to take direction, take coaching, work with other people. It provides you with a great emotional range and teaches you about yourself."
The path that Hansen's career took was not necessarily the one he plotted as a student. When he graduated from the University of Washington, an observer might feel that any activity he might have involving athletics would be more as an archivist rather than an administrator/architect. Journalism was his call and Hansen was sports editor of the University of Washington Daily. From that close vantage point, Hansen witnessed and reported the dissolution of what was then the Pacific Coast Conference and the birth of what went on to become the Pac-10. After graduation, Hansen did what any good journalism student would. He got a job as a reporter. But not for long. Here's what Georg Meyers, a longtime Hansen observer as well as writer and editor for the Seattle Times, later printed: "Tom learned enough in one year in the newspaper business, with the Vancouver Columbian, to get out of it."
Off the sidelines and into the game. In 1960, Hansen hired on to do public relations for the new Big Five Conference, the immediate successor to the Pacific Coast Conference, by its' first executive director, Tom Hamilton. The Big Five, of course, went on to become the Big Six, the Pac-8 and, ultimately, the Pac-10. Hansen had no thought then that someday he might return as conference executive director, which was what commissioner was then called.
But first, after seven years, would come an even bigger playing field, the governing body of college athletics, the NCAA. He joined the NCAA as director of public relations in 1967. The scope and importance of that job grew reflecting Hansen's abilities and achievements. Hansen's presence and influence in college athletics increased even more when he was named assistant executive director in 1971; the second ranking job in the NCAA.
He directed the NCAA football television program for 11 years and administered the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament for two years. He was director of governmental affairs, administrator for the Committee on Women's Athletics and director of media relations for many NCAA events. He was also editor of the NCAA News, director of the communications department and staffed other key committees.
In 1983 Hansen returned to the Pac-10. He was asked, Why? "I've been a number two man for about 15 years," Hansen said. "I want to get back closer to the action. If the Pac-10 hired somebody else now, the job might never open again in my professional lifetime. I never plotted a course to a certain job, but I believe my experience can be of some value at the conference level."
During Hansen's tenure as commissioner, the Pac-10 inaugurated a women's sports program, created two television programs, and added promotional emphasis on the conference's men's and women's basketball programs. Under Hanson, the conference also expanded sports television coverage, improved conference services in rules compliance and initiated an administrative fellowship program to expand minorities' opportunities in college athletic administration. In 1996-97, the conference recorded an historic 14 NCAA championships. In 2000-01 the conference again led the country in national championships. Thirty six times in the past 41 years, the conference has won more national championships than any other conference.
Hansen has also maintained a national influence and voice. Not only is he widely quoted on breaking stories and events that affect college athletics, Hansen has been prominent in NCAA affairs. He served recently on two major NCAA groups, the Gender Equity Task Force and the Division I Task Force on Restructuring. He chaired a committee on contest exemptions and served on the Nominating and Special Events Committees. He also served for two years as president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA), and four years on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In 1994, NACDA honored Hansen with its Award for Administrative Excellence.
This past year, Hansen completed a five-year term on the National Football Foundation Division I-A Honors Court - the group responsible for electing players and coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Northern California Chapter of the Foundation, and in 1998, he was presented the Chapter's Distinguished American Award.
Hansen and his wife Melva have two children, Sarah and Bryan.
