Bowerman, William J.

William Jay "Bill" Bowerman was born February 19, 1911 in Portland, Oregon. Bill’s mother grew up in Fossil, Oregon, to which the family returned after Bill's parents divorced in 1913. Bill had an older brother and sister, Dan and Mary Elizabeth “Beth.” Bill also had a twin brother, Thomas, who died in a tragic elevator accident when they were two years old.

Bill attended Fossil Grade School, and Medford and Seattle schools, before returning to Medford for high school. Bill played in the high school band and played football his senior year. Bill first met Barbara Young, the woman he would marry, in high school in Medford. Bill came to the University of Oregon in 1929 to play football and study journalism. After one year studying journalism, Bill switched to a business major, which he did not like, but decided to complete anyway. He competed in track while finishing up pre-med courses. After graduation, Bill was set to teach school for two years and then attend medical school. He taught biology and coached football at Franklin High School in Portland in 1934. In 1935 he moved back to Medford to teach and coach football. In 1936 he added the coaching responsibilities for basketball as well as football. He started a track team at Medford High School in 1937, and gave up his basketball coaching duties to become the track coach.

Bill and Barbara were married on June 22, 1936. Their first son, Jon was born June 22, 1938. William J. Bowerman Jr. “Jay” was born November 17, 1942. Bill was in the Army’s Tenth Mountain Division from 1943 until 1945. After the war, he returned to his position at Medford High School. Bill and Barbara’s third son, Thomas, was born May 20, 1946. The family then moved to Eugene, Oregon for Bill to become the freshman football coach at the University of Oregon. His first day of work was July 1, 1948. Bill became the track coach in 1949, a job he held until 1972. He also continued as freshman football coach for several more years. In the early 1950’s Bill was also the assistant athletic director at Oregon. Bill received his Master’s in Education from the University of Oregon in 1953. By the mid-1950’s Bill’s only duties were teaching and coaching track and field.

Bill made his biggest mark as a track coach. His “Track Men of Oregon” won 24 NCAA individual titles (with wins in 15 of the 19 events contested) and four NCAA team crowns (1962, 1964, 1965, 1970), and posted 16 Top-10 NCAA finishes in his 24 years as head coach. His teams also boasted 33 Olympians, 38 conference champions and 64 All-Americans. At the dual level, the Ducks posted a 114-20 record and went undefeated in 10 seasons. In addition, Bill coached the world record setting 4-mile relay team in 1962. This team consisted of Archie San Romani, Dyrol Burleson, Vic Reeve and Keith Forman with a time of 16:08.9.

During a trip to New Zealand in 1962, Arthur Lydiard introduced Bill to the concept of jogging as a fitness routine. Bill brought this concept back to the United States, and began to write articles and books about jogging. Bill also created to jogging program in Eugene that became a national model for a fitness program. A Jogger’s Manual, a three-page guide, was published shortly after Bill returned from New Zealand. In 1966, along with cardiologist W.E. Harris, Bill published a 90-page book titled Jogging . Due to the popularity of Jogging, Harris and Bill published a 127-page book in 1967. To this day jogging remains a popular form of exercise for men and women of all ages.

Bill was a highly inventive man. In addition to experimenting with many different types of shoes, Bill also experimented with different types of track surfaces. Bill created a rubber and asphalt mix for track runways. He helped to create portable runways with this same mixture for use on indoor tracks. He created a lightweight practice hurdle, which he manufactured and sold. But his main area of invention was athletic shoes.

Bill created a training program for adjusting athletes for the high altitude that they would experience at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. This successful program led to his selection as the 1972 Munich Olympic Games U. S. Track and Field head coach. The Olympians that Bill trained at Oregon included Jack Hutchins, Dyrol Burleson, Bill Dellinger, Harry Jerome, Sig Ohlemann, Les Tipton, Gerry Moro, Wade Bell, Kenny Moore, Steve Prefontaine, and Mac Wilkins. Bill coached members of teams from Norway, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

In 1970 Bill stepped back from day-to-day coaching activities to spearhead the fundraising for renovating the Hayward Field grandstands before the 1972 Olympic Trials. Bill officially retired as the UO head coach in 1972, letting Bill Dellinger officially take over the reigns.

Before and after retirement, Bill worked with Phil Knight as a co-founder of Nike (initially Blue Ribbon Shoes) to develop new and innovative shoe designs. After retirement, Bill devoted more of his time to these endeavors, once using his wife’s waffle iron to create a new type of “waffle” sole for running shoes.

In 1981 Bill became aware of the Rajneesh commune who had bought property next to his in Eastern Oregon. During the Rajneesh’s tenure in Oregon Bill, sparred with them on many different issues.

In his retirement years Bill continued to work with Nike and coach on a limited basis. Mac Wilkins was Bill’s final Olympian in 1984.

Bill is a member of the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Oregon’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bill Bowerman died December 24, 1999 at his home.

From the guide to the Bill Bowerman papers, 1932-1999, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)