The Matheson family suffered a loss this spring semester when my father, George Matheson, passed away. My dad shaped me in countless ways, especially through his love of sports and belief in the value of education and experiential learning. His influence inspired me to pursue a career in pro and college sport administration and eventually return to Iowa City, where he and my mother raised me, to join the University of Iowa faculty and help build an academic program that prepares Hawkeyes to become future sport and recreation industry leaders.

George’s love of sports started in the Chicago Park District leagues where his football, basketball and baseball participation earned him a scholarship to Weber High School, then a Chicago Catholic League powerhouse. He continued playing football and baseball at St. Procopius College (now Benedictine University in Lisle, IL) and went on to earn a master’s degree at Illinois State University and coach high school football.

George eventually earned a PhD in educational guidance and counseling from Purdue University. It was his education career path that brought him and my mother to Iowa City for a job in the Dean of Students office at the UI. George worked in several roles at Iowa and helped establish one of the first cooperative education (experiential learning) programs on campus in the College of Engineering before eventually transitioning into private business.

Although his career was no longer in education after leaving the UI, George’s belief in the value of education remained front and center for the rest of his life. He served two terms as president of the Iowa City School Board, one term as president of the School District Foundation, regularly volunteered as a reader to Iowa City elementary school students, and co-founded a program through the school district to raise funds for book purchases for local school libraries.

As I transitioned into the second act of my career at our hometown university, my father was one of my biggest supporters. He and my mother always attended when I had national guest speakers on campus that were open to the public, they followed the UISRM social media pages religiously, and they were passionate about supporting UISRM financially because they saw what the program could do for students when given sufficient resources for programming and scholarships.

So during One Day for Iowa on March 25, my family and I will donate to the SRM program as a tribute to George Matheson. Without him, I probably would not be teaching in Iowa’s SRM program today. And he would be proud to know that his legacy continues to make a difference in the lives of students through the educational and professional development opportunities that our gifts to SRM will unlock.

It’s easy to give to the UISRM program during #1DayForIowa. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will help UISRM climb the leaderboard and unlock additional funding that will go directly to supporting scholarships and programming for our students.

Click here to visit the University of Iowa Center for Advancement to support the UISRM program.