Dr. William N. Wasson

Dr. William N. Wasson

Dr. William N. Wasson was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky where he attended Central High School. In 1937 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Louisville Municipal College. While in college, he played football, basketball, and ran track. Wasson received a scholarship to Atlanta University where he received a Master's degree in Biology. The following two years he taught and served as principal in Homerville, Georgia. He volunteered for the Army and then continued teaching in Georgia and Arkansas.

In 1946, Dr. Wasson enrolled at the University of Michigan to pursue a Master's degree in Physical Education. During his stay at Michigan, Dr. Wasson was introduced to intramurals when he took a class from Dr. Elmer Mitchell, the "father of intramurals." From there he went to Dillard University as a biology teacher and served as the assistant football coach, the assistant basketball coach, and the head track coach. He developed an intramural program for Dillard University students and was then given a grant from the Carnegie Foundation in 1948 to study student intramural programs at black colleges.

As a result of the grant, Dr. Wasson collected data and wrote "A Comparative Study of Intramural Programs in Negro Colleges." This document was mailed to all participating colleges and ultimately led to the meeting of intramural directors from 11 colleges at Dillard University in 1950. At this meeting the National Intramural Association (NIA) was created and Dr. Wasson has since been known as the founder of the Association.

Dr. Wasson left Dillard in June 1950 to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Michigan. He remained in Ann Arbor for a year before accepting a position with the Pontiac school system. He continued to work on his doctorate at the University of Michigan where he received a teaching fellowship in the campus intramural program. He finished his doctorate in 1954 and then went to Grambling College to teach biology.

In 1957 he went to Wayne State University and taught kinesiology, anatomy, physiology and the physiology of exercise. He also served on 100 doctoral committees. He retired from Wayne State University in 1980 as Professor Emeritus.

Dr. William Wasson passed away on July 31, 1991. He is survived by his wife Lee, of Lithonia, Georgia, who continues to attend NIRSA Annual Conferences.

Dr. Wasson left a rich legacy of service and involvement. He served as President of the NIA for the first five years, received the NIRSA Honor Award, and published numerous articles on intramural and recreational sports. He served as a consultant for the establishment of a National Intramural Association of Canada. He acted as Director of the National Undergraduate Leadership Conference for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

He also served as Co-Chair of the Motor City International Indoor Track Meet. He was a member of Phi Epsilon Kappa, Phi Delta Kappa and Beta Kappa Chi Honor Societies. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Camp Fire Girls, Associate Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the President of the Detroit Varsity Club.

Dr. Wasson was once asked how he would like NIRSA to remember him. He humbly responded, "As the person who accidentally happened to have been there because, certainly not in the back of my mind, did I think we would get organized and become a national or rather an international organization."