The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs.University of Michigan Hall of Honor
. GoBlue (University of Michigan Athletics official website). Retrieved 2011-09-09. To qualify for induction into the Hall of Honor, an individual must have been an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, U.S., or world record, won an NCAA title, or made significant contributions to the university's athletic department as a coach or administrator. The nomination and selection process is conducted by the Letterwinners M Club executive board.

Hall of Honor firsts

The first group inducted into the Hall of Honor in 1978 was

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

Bill Freehan William Ashley Freehan (November 29, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 19 ...

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), nicknamed "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon played college football as a halfback for the Michigan Wolverines from ...

Ron Kramer Ronald John Kramer (June 24, 1935 – September 11, 2010) was an American professional football player who was an end in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Green Bay Packers. A member of two NFL champion teams with the Pack ...

Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was an American football end and head coach for the University of Michigan. He was a three-time All-American college football player, a two-time All-American basketball player, and ...

Cazzie Russell Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with t ...

, and

Bob Ufer Robert Pormann Ufer ( '; April 1, 1920 – October 26, 1981) was an American track and field athlete and radio broadcaster. As an athlete, he set the world indoor record of 48.1 seconds in the indoor 440-yard (quarter-mile) run and was selec ...

. The second induction class in 1979 consisted of

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler ( ; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football", an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and ...

DeHart Hubbard William DeHart Hubbard (November 25, 1903 – June 23, 1976) was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event: the running long jump at the 1924 Paris Summer games. He al ...

, Ray Fisher,

Charlie Fonville Charles Edward Fonville (April 27, 1927 – July 13, 1994) was an American track and field athlete who set a list of world records in athletics, world record in the shot put. In 1945, he had been named the Michigan High School Track & Field ...

Willie Heston William Martin Heston (September 9, 1878 – September 9, 1963) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake Universit ...

Chuck Kocsis Charles R. Kocsis (January 27, 1913 – May 30, 2006) was an American amateur golfer. Kocsis was introduced to the game as a caddie at the Phoenix Country Club, which is now Rogell Municipal Golf Course. One of fourteen children, he grew up in th ...

George Sisler George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. From 1915 through 1930, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the History of t ...

Germany Schulz Adolph George "Germany" Schulz (April 19, 1883 – April 14, 1951) was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited wit ...

Rudy Tomjanovich Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won two NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) and coached Team USA to the gold medal in men's basketball at the ...

and

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

. The first women inducted into the Hall of Honor were Olympic diving gold medalist

Micki King Maxine Joyce "Micki" King (born July 26, 1944) is an American former competitive diver and diving coach. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three meter springboard event. She was the dominant figure in women's di ...

in 1986 and athletic administrator

Marie Hartwig Marie Dorothy Hartwig (August 1, 1906 – December 31, 2001), known by the nickname "Pete", was an American professor of physical education at the University of Michigan, the university's first associate director of athletics for women, and a lifel ...

in 1989. The first African-American athletes inducted were

(1978),

(1979) and

(1979). The first players inducted by sport are: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

–

(1978) and

(1979) * Men's

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

–

(1978) and

(1979) * Women's Basketball –

Diane Dietz Diane Dietz is a former All-American basketball player. She played for the University of Michigan from 1979 to 1982 and is the school's fourth all-time scoring leader with 2,076 points. She also set the Big Ten Conference single-game scoring record ...

* Cross country –

Sue Frederick Foster Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland) Sue Islet (or Sue Island), ...

(2004) and

Melanie Weaver-Barnett Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

(men's) –

Richard Degener Richard Kempster Degener (March 14, 1912 – August 24, 1995) was an American diving (sport), diver and NCAA titlist who swam for the University of Michigan and the Detroit Athletic Club. He won a bronze and a gold medal in the 3 m springboa ...

(1980) and

Dick Kimball Dick Kimball (born c. 1935) is an American former diving champion and diving coach at the University of Michigan. He was the NCAA springboard champion in 1957 and the Professional World Diving champion in 1963. He coached the University of Mich ...

(1985) * Diving (women's) –

(1986) and Chris Seufert-Sholtis (2007) *

Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

– Mary (Callam) Brandes (2006) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

–

and

(1978) *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

–

(1979) and

Johnny Fischer John W. Fischer (March 10, 1912 – May 25, 1984) was an American amateur golfer in the 1930s. Fischer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He won the 1932 NCAA individual golf championship and the Big Ten Conference individual championship in 193 ...

(1980) *

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

(men's) –

Newt Loken Newton Clayton Loken (February 27, 1919 – June 28, 2011) was an artistic gymnast and coach of gymnastics, trampolining and cheerleading. While a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team, Loken was NCAA all-around gymna ...

(coach, 1981) and Ed Gagnier (1992) * Gymnastics (women's) – Beth Wymer *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

–

Vic Heyliger Victor Heyliger (September 26, 1912 – October 4, 2006) was an American ice hockey player and coach. He played 33 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks between 1937 and 1944 and then worked as the head coach A hea ...

(1980) and

John Sherf John Harold Sherf (April 8, 1913 – August 19, 1991) was an American ice hockey player. He played 19 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings between 1936 and 1943. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1935 to 1944, ...

(1981) *

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

–

Penny Neer Penny Lou Neer (born November 7, 1960) is a former American collegiate and Olympic athlete in discus throwing, basketball and softball. A native of Hillsdale, Michigan, Neer came to the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship and bec ...

(2002) and

Vicki Morrow Vicki Morrow is an American, former collegiate All-American right-handed batting softball pitcher and outfielder, originally from Pontiac, Michigan. She played for the Michigan Wolverines softball team from 1984 to 1987. She was named Big Ten ...

(2004) *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

(men's) – Matt Mann (coach, 1980) and

Harry Holiday Harry Holiday, Jr. (July 2, 1923 – February 16, 1999) was an American swimmer. He was the world record holder in the backstroke at the University of Michigan in the 1940s and the president of steelmaker American Rolling Mill Co. (Armco) from 1 ...

(1981) * Swimming (women's) – Melinda (Copp) Harrison (2006) and Ann Colloton (2007) *

Synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

–

Ruth Pickett Thompson Ruth Pickett Thompson is a former All-American synchronized swimmer for the University of Michigan. A native of Richmond, Virginia, she was named an All-American in four consecutive years from 1978 to 1981, and also placed among the top three in ...

(2008) *

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

– Barry MacKay (1980) and William Murphy (coach, 1983) *

Track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

(men's) –

(1978),

(1979) and

(1979) * Track & field (women's) –

Francie Kraker Goodridge Francea ("Francie") Norma Kraker Goodridge (born February 9, 1947 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a former women's track and field athlete and coach from the United States. She set a world record in the 600-yard indoor event and was the first Michigan- ...

(1994) *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

–

Diane Ratnik Diane Ratnik-Cooper (born July 14, 1962 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired volleyball player from Canada, who competed for her native country in two Summer Olympics: 1984 and 1996. A resident of Scarborough, Ontario, she finished in eighth and tenth ...

(2009) *

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

–

Cliff Keen Clifford Patrick Keen (June 13, 1901 – November 4, 1991) was an American coach who served as the head coach of the University of Michigan collegiate wrestling team from 1925 to 1970. He led the Michigan Wolverines to 13 Big Ten Conference ...

(coach, 1980) and

Ed Don George Edward Nye "Ed Don" George Jr. (June 3, 1905 – September 18, 1985) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling promoter. A former Olympic freestyle wrestler, George competed in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and turned ...

(1981)

Sortable list of inductees

For alphabetical listing of inductees, see footnote For listing of inductees by induction year, see footnoteMichigan Athletic Hall of Honor
(By ''Induction Year''). Bentley Historical Library (archives of the University of Michigan and the Michigan Athletic Department) website. Retrieved 2011-09-09.

References

External links

University of Michigan Hall of Honor
GoBlue (University of Michigan Athletics official website)

Bentley Historical Library (archives of the University of Michigan and the Michigan Athletic Department) website {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Michigan Athletic Hall Of Honor

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Hall of Honor Awards established in 1978 Halls of fame in Michigan 1978 establishments in Michigan

Hall of Honor firsts

Sortable list of inductees

See also

References

External links