CLAUSEN, Dick (A.D.)

The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona December 13, 2000, page C1 Former A. D. Clausen left legacy at Arizona. A packed house was on hand yesterday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church for the memorial service of former Arizona athletic director Dick Clausen. But the entire Arizona athletic department will always serve as a memorial of sorts for the popular former AD. Clausen, who died last Friday at age 88, oversaw UA's athletics during a critical growth period from 1958 to 1972. "He was the guy who really moved Arizona sports from a player on the regional level to one on the national level," said former UA president John Schaefer, who now heads the Tucson-based Research Corp. "He was one of the founders of the Western Athletic Conference, and the work he did allowed us to eventually become part of the Pac-10." Clausen, formerly the head football coach at New Mexico, arrived at Arizona in 1958 as athletic director and head of men's physical education. At that time, the school had a four-figure enrollment and competed in the Border Conference. Arizona Stadium, known as Varsity Stadium, sat about 22,000 fans, and the basketball team played at Bear Down Gymnasium. But by the time Clausen left, Arizona was competing in the more respected WAC, Arizona Stadium was 10,000 seats bigger and financing was secured for the construction of McKale Center. Clausen, a 1998 inductee of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, also pushed to hire more African-American coaches at a time when it wasn't always popular to do so. And just before he left, Clausen hired one somewhat disappointed baseball coach who would go on to bring Arizona three national championships - Jerry Kindall. "By the time I reported in February of 1972, he was retired," Kindall said. "I was a little upset that my advocate had left. During the interview and negotiation process, it was just the two of us talking by phone, and I really learned to admire him for his thoroughness and honesty. He had a terrific reputation in the Midwest, and we struck it off right away because we were both Midwesterners." Later in the 1970s, Schaefer and Clausen's successor, Dave Strack, succeeded in moving Arizona into the Pac-10. Arizona then went on to establish itself among the nation's top 10 overall athletic programs as determined by the Sears Cup competition. But Kindall said Clausen set a "tremendous foundation" for such a move, and Schaefer noted that Clausen did so while fighting administrative opposition to accelerating sports before he took over the president's job in 1971. "Arizona was changing very rapidly at that time," Schaefer said. "It was a real small school and a sparsely populated state. To aspire to a national presence at that time was a fairly aggressive view to take, and Dick was part of that transition.'' For the short time Clausen worked under him, Schaefer said he found Clausen delightful to deal with and "didn't lose any sleep" over what he might be doing. Similarly, Clausen's character was held in high regard. Kindall said he found Clausen a very "Godly and upright'' family man, and Schaefer said his approachable personality made everyone in the athletic department more comfortable. "He was just a very sensitive person," Schaefer said. "He wasn't the image of a jock. He was very religious and concerned about the welfare of student-athletes and coaches. He believed in those things, and he lived with that (spirit) as well." Clausen is survived by his wife of 61 years, Mary Ann, and four children: Chuck Clausen, Monte Clausen, Sally Corlett, and Christopher Clausen. He is also survived by 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.