Don Canham Bio
5/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Donald B. Canham
University of Michigan Athletics Director (1968-88)
Track & Field Coach (1949-68)
Date of Birth: April 27, 1918 (Chicago, Ill.)
Date of Death: May 3, 2005 (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
A visionary and legend in intercollegiate athletics, Don Canham spent more than 40 years of his adult life as a successful track and field coach (1949-68) as well as Director of intercollegiate athletics (1968-88) at the University of Michigan before retiring on July 1, 1988. Canham guided and presided over Michigan Athletics during the collegiate athletic boom of the 1970s and '80s as Wolverine athletic teams enjoyed virtually unparalleled success within the Big Ten and on the NCAA level.
While his talents in the sport of track and field and his success in the business world were noteworthy, it was his reign as University of Michigan athletics director spanning 21 years that set him apart from the rest. Canham revolutionized intercollegiate athletics utilizing his business skills as a marketer, promoter and fund raiser. Upon his selection as the fifth Michigan athletics director on July 1, 1968, Canham launched the first-ever major direct mail and advertising program to sell football and other sports' tickets.
Due in large part to his efforts, Michigan football averaged more than 100,000 fans per game for the first time in 1976, and beginning in 1975 Michigan football has played in front of crowds of more than 100,000 in 186 straight home games through the 2004 season. Canham's vision is still felt today, as the 2004 Wolverines led the nation in attendance for the 30th time in the last 31 years. His aggressive ideas in marketing and promotion generated revenues that made Michigan Athletics one of the most self-sufficient programs in the country. One such promotion included hosting two Slippery Rock football games at Michigan Stadium with the first of those games drawing a crowd in excess of 60,000.
An important voice in intercollegiate athletics at both the conference and NCAA level, Canham served as a consultant and advisor for as many as 12 major institutions during the final 11 years as Michigan's athletic director. He also served on a variety of Big Ten and NCAA committees, with his work on the NCAA Television committee during the 1970s being one of his most noteworthy accomplishments.
Combining his knack for business with extensive experience in athletics on several levels, Canham built Michigan Athletics into one of the nation's most successful programs during his time. He oversaw a Michigan athletic department that produced 72 Big Ten championships on his watch and witnessed countless Michigan teams and athletes compete for NCAA championships.
As significant as his contributions were to the marketing and promoting of intercollegiate athletics, it was perhaps his eye for coaching talent that was his most significant contribution. One of his first moves as Michigan's AD was to hire a future football coaching legend in Bo Schembechler in 1968. Ice hockey coach Red Berenson, softball coach Carol Hutchins, swimming coach Jon Urbanchek, track and field coach Ron Warhurst and numerous other great Michigan coaches were brought aboard by Canham.
Canham was recognized by various athletic organizations following is distinguished tenure, including induction into the Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor (1987), the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) (1988) and most recently received U-M's Gerald R. Ford award in 2005, which is the highest honor bestowed a former Michigan student-athlete who epitomizes excellence in scholarship, sport and society.
A successful high school track and field athlete at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Ill., Canham arrived in Ann Arbor in January of 1938 and lettered on the Michigan track and field team from 1939-41, winning the 1940 NCAA national championship in the high jump and serving as team captain in 1941. Canham returned to his native Illinois, where he taught history and coached basketball, football and track and field at Kankakee High School in Kankakee, Ill., from 1941-42. Following a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force from 1942-46, Canham made the trek back to his alma mater as an assistant coach for track and field in 1946.
Following his two-year tenure as assistant coach, Canham was promoted to head coach in June of 1948 by then athletic director and former Michigan football coaching legend Fritz Crisler. While at the helm of the Wolverine track and field program, Canham led the Maize and Blue to 11 Big Ten indoor and outdoor championships (seven indoor, four outdoor) as well as one cross country title. Under his tutelage Michigan relay teams set world records in the four-mile relay and the distance medley relay.
His vast array of accomplishments within the sport of track and field were not limited to the University of Michigan. Canham's presence in the sport was felt on the national and Olympic levels as well. He served as director for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1954 and as president of the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association from 1958-59. Canham founded and served as director of the first NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Detroit, Mich., in 1965. Showing Canham's acumen for both athletics and business, the meet generated gross revenue of more than $80,000 in 1966 and '67 with the profits returning to the competing schools. One of the founders of the U.S. Track and Field Federation, Canham is now honored as a member of its Hall of Fame.
Canham's wide-ranging influence in track and field extended beyond U.S. borders as he toured Europe and the Far East beginning in 1953 in the interest of the sport he loved. Beginning in 1954 he conducted coaching clinics and assisted with coaching national teams in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, German, Finland, Jamaica and Trinidad. Canham's coaching talents were used as a U.S. State Department representative in East Africa, where he completed a six-week assignment as a coach for the Olympic teams of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika.
Long after his retirement on July 1, 1988, Canham remained a sought-after advisor and consultant in the world of business and intercollegiate athletics. Shortly after his retirement, the Donald B. Canham Natatorium on the Michigan campus was completed and dedicated in his honor. Canham graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education, history and science from Michigan in 1941 and completed a Master of Arts degree in 1948 after returning to his alma mater.
Following his days at Michigan, Canham successfully ran his family-owned business School-Tech, Inc., in Ann Arbor, which he actually started while coaching in 1954. An independent manufacturing and distribution company marketing instructional films as well as recreational, educational and athletic equipment, School-Tech has expanded into a multi-million dollar operation.
