Shultz, Richard "Dick" - Former CEO of NCAA, and former Executive Director of the US Olympic Committee
If you ask Dick Schultz’s wife about his career, she would tell you that he has failed retirement several times, as his professional career has spanned 56 years from a High School Basketball Coach, to the head of the two largest Sports organizations in America, and at nearly 78 years of age is still going strong.
Dick started his professional career as a basketball coach at Humboldt, Iowa High School and followed that endeavor for 25 years, most of it at the University of Iowa. In 1976 he left coaching to become the Director of Athletics at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. In 1981, he went to the University of Virginia as Director of Athletics and during that time became Chairman of the NCAA Basketball Tournament selection committee as well as Chair of the NCCA TV negotiating committee.
In 1987 he was named the 2nd Executive Director of the NCAA where he oversaw major changes in the organization and was charged with opening up the NCAA and making it more users friendly. During that time he was responsible for negotiating the NCAA’s first $ One Billion Basketball TV contract.
Dick retired from the NCAA in 1994 and was doing private consulting work for Corporations and Universities when he was called in 1995 to take over the United States Olympic Committee. He agreed to do that through the Sydney Australia games in the year 2000. He is now the Chairman and CEO of International Partnerships LLC, spending much of his time in China with both Chinese and U.S. Clients. He has always been active in community and Christian activities, especially Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and now with the CEO Forum, a Christian ministry to over 150 Fortune 500 CEO’s in the U.S., and is now in charge of developing the Forum Internationally.
The 1950 graduate of Central College in Iowa also had a strong competitive athletic background, winning 10 Varsity letters in Football, Basketball and Baseball. He is a professional pilot, with commercial instrument, single, multi-engine and Learjet rating and has been awarded seven Honorary Doctorate Degrees from U.S. Colleges and Universities.
Dick and his wife, Jackie celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year and have three children (Robert, Bill and Kim) and six grandchildren.