Charles Merrill Neinas (born January 18, 1932 in Wisconsin) is a former commissioner of the Big Eight Conference from 1971 to 1980. [1] [2] [3] Neinas also served as interim commissioner of the Big 12 Conference from 2011 to 2012. [4] [5] He was the 1996 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award winner.
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the University of Iowa was an original member of the MVIAA, while maintaining joint membership in the Western Conference.
The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas. The conference consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. Its ten members, located in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia, include eight public and two private, Christian schools. Additionally, the Big 12 has 11 affiliate members, eight for the sport of wrestling, one for women's gymnastics, and two for women's rowing. The Big 12 Conference is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Delaware.
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is presented annually by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) to the "individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football". Recipients receive a plaque which is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football. The purpose of the award is "to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg".
