From NADIIIAA
At its Summer Forum in June, the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) Executive Committee announced the creation of a new award, the NADIIIAA Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to naming the inaugural award recipient, its Executive Director Dick Rasmussen.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be known as the Richard A. Rasmussen Lifetime Achievement Award, will be presented to someone who has had a significant impact on Division III during the course of his/her career.
Rasmussen has devoted his life to Division III athletics, serving as the Executive Director of the University Athletic Association (UAA) since it began official operations in July 1987, helping facilitate its development into one of the premiere conferences in the NCAA. In addition, he co-founded NADIIIAA in 1994 and currently serves as its Executive Director. He is also a Past President of the Division III Commissioners Association and continues to serve as its secretary/treasurer. At the 2002 NCAA Convention, he was honored by his fellow commissioners with the Association’s inaugural Meritorious Service Award, recognizing significant, sustained achievement and contributions to college athletics at the national level.
Nationally, Rasmussen has served on a number of NCAA committees, including but not limited to the NCAA Council, the NCAA Division III Management Council and chairing the Division III Membership Committee. He also was a member of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics and served on a focus group that developed the initial NCAA Diversity Education Program with the Minority Interests and Opportunities Committee.
Prior to his tenure with the UAA, Rasmussen served variously as an assistant football coach, head baseball coach, and business manager for the Department of Sports and Recreation at the University of Rochester.
Outside of the Division III world, Rasmussen is active within the community, volunteering in leadership roles with the Seneca Waterways Boy Scout Council, Psi Upsilon International Fraternity, and is a past trustee of the Newman Community Catholic Parish just to name a few. In 2007, he was presented the national Award of Distinction by the North-American Interfraternity Conference for his volunteer service to Psi Upsilon Fraternity and the University of Rochester.
About NADIIIAA: NADIIIAA is an association comprised of athletics administrators from the nearly 450 institutions and 43 conferences competing at the NCAA Division III level. A primary purpose of NADIIIAA is to encourage the continued development of athletics programs focused on the student-athlete and based on sound educational philosophy.