Donald Newton Dedmon (August 13,1931 – February 13,1998) was an American academic administrator and communications consultant. [1]
Dedmon was born in Wright County,Missouri,and received his undergraduate degree English and speech from Southwest Missouri State College (now Missouri State University) in 1953,and taught high school before earning a Master of Arts degree in speech in 1956 and a PhD in oral education from the University of Iowa in 1961.
He taught at Saint Cloud State College,in St. Cloud,Minnesota,from 1959 to 1962 and at Southern Illinois University,in Carbondale,Illinois from 1962 to 1964. He later became chair of the Department of Speech at Colorado State University. From 1966 to 1968,he served as a communications consultant for pharmaceutical company Smith,Kline &French.
Dedmon became the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Marshall University in 1968,and was appointed executive vice president the following year,becoming acting president of the University in 1970. In this role,he led the campus through the November 14,1970,plane crash in which 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team,eight members of the coaching staff,and 25 school boosters were killed. The team was returning home after a 17-14 loss against the East Carolina University Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville,North Carolina. [2] Dedmon was portrayed by David Strathairn in the movie We Are Marshall, which details the aftermath of the crash and its effect on the school community. [1]
Dedmon became president of Radford University on March 20,1972,and served for more than twenty years,during which time the University experienced rapid growth and a major transition from a small women's college to a co-ed institution,before reaching university status in 1979. The enrollment tripled during his tenure. [3]
Dedmon spent much of the early 1990s away from Radford University on sabbatical in Hawaii and later on medical leave during a lengthy recovery from a ruptured spleen.
Due to ill health Dedmon announced his retirement from Radford University in June 1994,but officially held the presidency while on medical leave until August 1995. His last public appearance at Radford University was in September 1995,when he spoke at the inauguration of his successor,Douglas Covington.
The Dedmon Center at Radford University was named in his honor. The 58,000-square-foot athletic center opened in 1981 and was renovated in 2009. [4]
In 2018,Dedmon was posthumously inducted in the Radford University Athletics Hall of Fame. [5]
Dedmon married Geraldine Mary Sanders,a native of Canada in 1957. They had two daughters. After retiring from Radford University,Dedmon moved to South Florida where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Naples,Florida in 1998 at the age of 66. [6]
Radford University is a public university in Radford,Virginia,United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910,Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields,graduate programs including the M.F.A.,M.B.A.,M.A.,M.S.,Ed.S.,Psy.D.,M.S.W.,and specialized doctoral programs in health-related professions. It is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities".
Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington,West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall,the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The university is classified among "R2:Doctoral Universities –High research activity".
The Dedmon Center is a 3,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Radford,Virginia. Construction started in 1979 and finished in 1981. A natatorium featuring an eight-lane olympic-size pool with a diving well was added in 1987. The Dedmon Center is home to the Radford University Highlanders basketball team. The center is named for Dr. Donald Dedmon,who served as president of Radford University from 1972 until 1995 when he retired. It was the tenth air-supported roof built in the United States. The air-supported fabric roof was removed during a major renovation in April 2008 and replaced with a fabric roof supported by steel trusses.
The Dedmon Center reopened on January 21,2009,with a new lights system,sound system,and a new basketball floor. The venue hosted the final of the 2009 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament and the final of the 2018 and 2019 Big South Conference men's tournament.
We Are Marshall is a 2006 American biographical sports drama film directed by McG. It depicts the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people:37 players of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team,five coaches,two athletic trainers,the athletic director,25 boosters,and the airplane crew of five.
Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston,North Carolina,to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Kenova and Ceredo,West Virginia. At 7:36 pm on November 14,1970,the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport,killing all 75 people on board in what has been recognized as "the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. history".
The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal,Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while most other teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The fight song is Go,You Redbirds.
James Spainhower was an American Democratic politician from Missouri. He served four terms in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1963 to 1970 and two terms as the State Treasurer of Missouri from 1973 to 1981.
Jack Robert Lengyel is an American software executive and former college football coach,college lacrosse coach,and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the College of Wooster from 1966 to 1970 and at Marshall University from 1971 until 1974,compiling a career college football record of 33–54. At Marshall,he took over the Thundering Herd football program after the Southern Airways Flight 932 plane crash that killed nearly the entire team in 1970. Lengyel was the athletic director at California State University,Fresno from 1983 to 1986,at the University of Missouri from 1986 to 1988,and at the United States Naval Academy from 1988 to 2001. He served as the interim athletic director at Temple University in 2002,at Eastern Kentucky University from 2002 to 2003,and at the University of Colorado Boulder from 2004 to 2005.
Rickey Dale Tolley was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Marshall University during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. He died in the 1970 plane crash that killed all of the crew and passengers,including most of the Marshall football team and coaching staff and several team boosters.
Dick Bestwick was an American football coach,scout,and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the University of Virginia from 1976 to 1981,compiling a record of 16–49–1. A native of Grove City,Pennsylvania,he played college football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,graduating from the school in 1952. Bestwick received his Masters in Education from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to his tenure at Virginia,Bestwick spent 1954 to 1962 as a high school football coach at three different schools including his alma mater,Grove City High School,and 1967 to 1975 as an assistant coach at Georgia Institute of Technology. Bestwick was hired as the head football coach at Marshall University in 1971 after the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of most of the university's football team and coaching staff. He left the position after two days on the job and returned to Georgia Tech.
Joan C. Edwards Stadium,formerly Marshall University Stadium,is a football stadium located on the campus of Marshall University in Huntington,West Virginia,United States. It currently can hold 30,475 spectators and includes twenty deluxe,indoor suites,300 wheelchair-accessible seating,a state-of-the-art press-box,14 concession areas,and 16 separate restrooms. It also features 90,000 sq ft (8,000 m2) of artificial turf and 1,837 tons of structural steel. It also houses the Shewey Athletic Center,a fieldhouse and a training facility. The new stadium opened in 1991 and replaced Fairfield Stadium,a condemned off-campus facility built in 1927 in the Fairfield Park neighborhood.
In clear and calm weather in Colorado at 1:14 p.m. MDT on Friday,October 2,1970,a chartered Martin 4-0-4 airliner crashed into a mountain eight miles (13 km) west of Silver Plume. Operated by Golden Eagle Aviation,the twin-engined propliner carried 37 passengers and a crew of three;29 were killed at the scene and two later died of their injuries while under medical care.
The Wichita State Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University,located in Wichita,Kansas,in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks,primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference since the 2017–18 academic year. The Shockers previously competed in the D-I Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) from 1945–46 to 2016–17;as an Independent from 1940–41 to 1944–45;in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIC) from 1923–24 to 1939–40;and in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1902–03 to 1922–23. As of the 2020s conference realignment,Wichita State is one of two full members of The American to have never been a member of Conference USA,although it became a single-sport member of that conference for bowling in 2024. They are also currently the only non-football-sponsoring institution that is a member of an FBS conference.
Jefferson College of Health Sciences was a private health sciences college in Roanoke,Virginia. Officially chartered as a college in 1982,Jefferson College is the oldest hospital-based college in Virginia. In 2019,the college merged with Radford University to become Radford University Carilion.
The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association,playing at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level.
The Radford Highlanders men's basketball represents Radford University in NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball competition. A member of the Big South Conference,their current head coach is Darris Nichols. The Highlanders play at the Dedmon Center,which has a capacity of 3,000. The Highlanders have appeared three times in the NCAA Tournament,most recently in 2018.
Martin Smith is an American sports journalist,best known for his work with ESPN. Smith was hired by the network in 2006 for NASCAR coverage. He hosted an interview show titled SportsCenter Presents:Marty Smith’s America.
The 1970 Wichita Shockers football team was an American football team that represented Wichita State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The team compiled a 0–9 record,finished last out of five teams in the MVC,and was outscored by a total of 381 to 99. The team played its home games at Cessna Stadium in Wichita,Kansas.
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