Born February 9, 1911, Portland, Ore. Died December 24, 1999

The person who more than anyone else started the nation's jogging craze, Bill Bowerman also was the inventor of the waffle sole for running shoes. In addition, his coaching tenure at the University of Oregon was highlighted by some of the most successful teams in the nation.

During a coaching tenure from 1949 to 1972, Bowerman produced four national collegiate championship teams plus two more that were runnersup. Individually, his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. Among his 23 Olympic athletes was 1960 gold medalist Otis Davis, who won the 400 and ran on the winning 4 x 400 relay. Besides Davis, his other top athletes reads like a Who's Who in American distance running -- Dyrol Burleson, Jim Grelle, Bill Dellinger, Ken Moore, Wade Bell, the late Steve Prefontaine (also in the Hall of Fame), Steve Savage and Keith Forman. A graduate of Oregon, Bowerman became active with the Nike Shoe Company after retiring from coaching.