Outlook Magazine - Fall 2021

LEGACIES OF LEADERSHIP, SUCCESS

Basketball All-American, three former athletic directors pass away

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William P. Burns William “Bill” Burns, athletic director from 1971-81, died in December 2020. He also coached and taught in the physical education department while serving as A.D. As women’s athletics grew across the country, he

ver the past year, the UW-Stout athletic family lost one of the most outstanding athletes ever to don the navy and white and three former athletic directors.

Mel Coleman Mel Coleman, who led UW-Stout to the NAIA national basketball tournament as a senior in 1969, died in March 2021.

helped advance seven UW-Stout teams.

Burns also helped establish the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 and was inducted into it in 1993, as well as into the NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame in 1992. The William P. Burns Endowed Athletic Fund, the first in athletics history, has been established through Stout University Foundation.

Inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 and WIAC Hall of Fame in 2018, the 6-foot-7 Coleman was conference MVP and NAIA All- American in 1969, the only first-team men’s basketball All-American in school history. He averaged 19.3 rebounds per game in 1968, still a conference record, and holds several other school records. He scored 1,130 career points, fourth in school history. He was drafted by two pro teams, surviving until the final training camp cut with the NBA Cincinnati Royals. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UW-Stout in 1969, a master’s in 1974 and was a licensed psychologist in Minneapolis.

Steve Terry Steve Terry, athletic director from 1994-2007, died in June 2020. During his tenure, Blue Devil teams received more national tournament bids, in eight sports, than any other period in school history.

The Blue Devils also added four sports (hockey, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf), Don and Nona Williams Stadium was completed and the Sports and Fitness Center received an addition. Terry came to UW-Stout in 1980 as track and field head coach, coached cross country and was an assistant football coach. He coached 31 track and field athletes to All-America status.

Warren Bowlus Warren Bowlus, athletic director from 1981-89, died in August 2020. He guided a major expansion of the Sports and Fitness Center, including the indoor track, and was committed to growth in women’s athletics.

Bowlus’ legacy lives on. The track and field program has hosted the two-day Warren Bowlus Open annually since 1991. The annual football Burger King/Warren Bowlus Academic Achievement Award was established in 1988.

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