Today's profile on 2011 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient A. John Pearson is the 21st in a series of profiles and features on CoSIDA's 2011 Special Awards recipients.
See the full list of award winners below the Pearson story.
by Tamara J. Flarup, University of Wisconsin/Special Awards Committee Chair
Many sports information professionals toil in small shops and receive little recognition for their contributions. A. John Pearson may have worked with small schools during his 49-year career, but he has
NOT gone unrecognized.
Pearson had the good fortune to come to Bethany College in 1970, after eight years as the director of public relations and alumni affairs at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill. At Bethany, he took over as the director of college relations, which included sports information duties, and performed that job for the next 34 years (1992). He was SID for Bethany from 1992 until retiring in 2004, while concurrently serving as the Director of Sports Information for the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) from 1975 to his retirement this summer.
Along the way, he made many friends, impressed many sports media professionals, and moved the sports information profession along. Just listen to what Jon Daniels, the Athletic Director at Bethany College and a past-president Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, says about Pearson:
“John was sports information when it was in its infancy and there were no rules, guidebooks or people to follow. He just did what he thought was necessary and those things he “invented” many years ago are now very much a part of the sports information environment and the established way of doing things. He certainly was a pioneer in our part of the country and many have talked with him, picked his brain and tried to emulate his ideas and processes. He has carried the conference and Bethany College to heights that would not have been reached if he had not taken the necessary steps to begin sports information.”
When you read about Pearson, several words keep coming up such as great integrity, resourcefulness and dedication, a passionate and persistent advocate, a pioneer. In 2007, those attributes led to recognition by his peers with the NAIA-Sports Information Directors Association's Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award. The award is the association's highest honor and recognizes its honoree for accomplishments and service performed over a career.
In supporting Pearson’s nomination for the award, former Bethany College director of communications and public relations Harold Rothgeb said, “John has always demonstrated great integrity as well as energetic determination, resourcefulness and dedication in providing complete and accurate information in support of SIDs, coaches and media alike. His efforts have resulted in the conference and the NAIA receiving substantial media coverage throughout the region John's extraordinary efforts have helped build a professional KCAC-wide sports information program.”
Pearson's extraordinary efforts and the net results was confirmed by Bob Davidson, Sports Editor of the Salina Journal in Salina, Kan.
“Typically, KCAC schools fly under the radar at most of the state's larger media outlets as there are three NCAA Division I schools in Kansas along with five NCAA Division II, 14 NAIA and 21 junior/community colleges," Davidson noted. "That never stopped John from being a passionate and persistent advocate for not only Bethany's athletic programs but for the KCAC in general. He consistently lobbied print, television and radio outlets for better coverage and doggedly sought ways for Bethany and KCAC schools to improve their sports media relations, specifically in terms of reporting results and providing information on various teams.”
Pearson has been a member of CoSIDA throughout his career. He has had an active educational professional collegiate administration lifetime from 1962 through 2011, including sports information responsibilities in two higher education institutions, the NAIA, and an affiliated conference. However, he counts the SID component of his higher education administration service to be among the most satisfying of his numerous professional contributions.
Beyond his professional obligations, Pearson has been active in the community and recognized for his civic contribution with awards from the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis International awards (Hixson Award from Kiwanis International).
A lifelong member of the Lutheran Church, for the past 39 years he has served as the coordinator of regional production and distribution in conjunction with WIBW Radio station of Topeka the annual Messiah Festival Radio Network live broadcasts of Handel's "Messiah" and J.S. Bach’s annual musical oratorio rendition "St. Matthew Passion" both performed each Easter-week in Lindsborg, Kansas.
There is no doubt the sports information profession will miss A. John Pearson in his retirement. But what he has put in place will sustain itself beyond his tenure by all the individuals he has inspired along the way.
A. John Pearson and his wife, Carol Ann, have a daughter Lynn Nicole and two sons, Clay John and Jay Lang. Hopefully in retirement he can now take some time to enjoy his hobbies and travels which include reading, photography, domestic travel and numerous tourist visits to Europe and South Africa.
THE CoSIDA SPECIAL AWARDS FEATURES SERIES
March
Thr. 3 Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame release
Thr. 3 Ann King (The Sage Colleges): 25-Year Award
Tue. 8 Kent Cherrington (Plymouth State University): 25-year Award
Thr. 10 Justin Doherty (University of Wisconsin): Arch Ward Award
Tue. 15 Rob Knox (Kutztown University): Rising Star Award (College Division)
Thr. 17 Jim Daves (University of Virginia): 25-Year Award
Tue. 22 Diane Nordstrom (University of Wisconsin): 25-Year Award
Thr. 24 Chevonne Mansfield (SWAC): Rising Star Award (University Division)
Tue. 29 Dr. Bill Smith (University of Arkansas): Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award
Thr. 31 Kevin Ruple (Baldwin-Wallace College): Lester Jordan Award
April
Tue. 5 Rich Herman (Clarion): CoSIDA Hall of Fame & Warren Berg Award
Thr. 7 Paul Madison (Western Washington): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Tue. 12 Charles Bloom (Southeastern Conference): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Thr. 14 Thomas Nelson (St. Cloud State University): 25-Year Award
Thr. 21 Mark Beckenbach (Ohio Northern): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Tue. 26 Brian DePasquale (University of Albany): 25-Year Award
Thr. 28 Debby Jennings (University of Tennessee): Trailblazer Award
May
Tue. 3 Walt Riddle (Saint Leo University): Lifetime Achievement Award; and 25-Year Award
Thr. 5 Tom Kroeschell (Iowa State): 25-Year Award
Tue. 10 Mike Moran (USOC): Lifetime Achievement Award
Thr.. 12 Joe Seil (Nazareth): 25-Year Award
Tue. 17 A. John Pearson (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference): Lifetime Achievement Award
Thr. 19 David Moross (Colorado College): 25-Year Award
Tue. 24 Dan McDonald (Northwestern State [La.] and Southwestern Louisiana: CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Thr. 26 Dave Beyer (Mercer University): 25-Year Award
Tue. 31 Lee Corso (ABC/ESPN Sports): Jade Wade Award
other profiles in the schedule to be announced; schedule subject to change