University of Nevada Athletics

Track & Field, Assistant Football Coach (1957-68)
A student-athlete, coach and university administrator, Dick Dankworth was associated with the University of Nevada for over 30 years. He coached the Wolf Pack track team for 11 seasons, leading the Wolf Pack to eight consecutive Far West Conference championships, 71 individual conference champions and 36 conference records. An All-American football player at Pepperdine, he coached football at several high schools in Los Angeles while pursuing his master’s degree at USC and was recruited to Nevada to serve as an assistant football coach and head track coach in 1957. In addition to conference championships, his 1962, ’66, and ’68 teams were NCAA regional champions. Six of his athletes were ranked nationally or in the world while at Nevada, while Otis Burrell was the NCAA national high jump champion in 1965.

After he finished his athletics career, Dankworth spent many years in a variety of important administrative assignments on the Nevada campus and served as a top executive for four University Presidents. He earned his graduate degree and doctorate in education at Stanford and Utah State. At the University, he was involved in directing the summer sessions and developing the University’s international study and continuing education programs. He also was responsible for managing the development of a number of major facilities on campus, including Lawlor Events Center. It was former University President, Joe Crowley, who then tapped Dick to take on one of his most important and toughest challenges, leading the University Foundation as its chief fundraiser. Even after retirement from the University, an association that lasted over 30 years, he continued to help local organizations, raising money for the National Judicial College on Nevada’s campus and becoming involved with Youth With a Mission’s University of the Nations. He also helped found Sierra Ministries, a non-denominational Christian fellowship organization, and participated in many Reno service organizations including Rotary International. He passed away in Reno in 2008.