Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills named Bonner and Bonner Lecturer

Native American Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills will present the March 10 Bonner and Bonner Diversity Series lecture.

“The vision of the Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series is to become the premier diversity lecture series in Kansas,” said Kenneth Weaver, chair of the Bonner and Bonner Lecture Series Programming Committee.

“Having Billy Mills on campus will be an extraordinary opportunity for the campus and the community to hear from one of the nation’s top athletes and citizens while helping celebrate the fortieth anniversary of his Olympic gold medal,” he said.

An Oglala Sioux, Billy Mills was born in South Dakota in 1938. He grew up on an Oglala Sioux reservation and was orphaned at the age of 12. He first began running while attending the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, which became the Haskell Indian Nations University.

While attending the University of Kansas on a scholarship, he won the individual title in the Big Eight Conference’s cross country tournament in 1960, and was the conference champion in the two-mile race in 1961.

While serving as a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he returned to racing and qualified for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He entered in the 10,000-meter run, a race no American had ever won in the Olympics. Despite a wet track and a qualifying time nearly a minute slower than that of the favorite, Australian Ron Clarke, Billy Mills won the race and set a new Olympic record time of 28 minutes and 24 seconds. To date, no other American has won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter run.

Today, Mills is a successful businessman and author and a motivational speaker. He is also the spokesperson for Running Strong for American Indian Youth, an organization whose mission is to help Native American people meet their immediate survival needs while implementing and supporting programs to create opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-esteem, particularly for tribal youth.

Earlier this year, the organization established the Billy Mills Running Strong for American Indian Youth Scholarship Fund at the University of Kansas, which will provide scholarships for Native American students in the Multicultural Scholars in Education program in the School of Education.

The Bonner and Bonner Lecture Series was established in 1992 by Drs. Thomas and Mary Bonner, ESU’s first and second African American faculty members. Both were full and tenured professors with a combined 48 years of service and contributions to ESU. The lecture series pays tribute to ESU as a pioneer in the community in the hiring of minorities and as a supporter of faculty and student diversity.

Mills will speak on March 10, at 7 p.m. in ESU’s Albert Taylor Hall.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>