Ollan Cassell

A figure who reached the highest levels of track and field as both an athlete and an official, Cassell served as the track & field administrator for the AAU from 1965-1970, and as the AAU's executive director from 1970-1980. Following the implementation of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, Cassell managed the transition from the AAU to the new national governing body as the executive director of The Athletics Congress/USA Track & Field. He served in that capacity from 1980 thru July 1997. An IAAF Vice-President from 1984 to 1996, during his tenure as the nation's chief track and field administrator Cassell was a pioneer in creating trust funds for athletes that allowed them to accept prize money and was instrumental in bringing changes within the sport. Cassell currently is involved in real estate and is a professor of Olympic Sports history at universities in the Indianapolis area. He also served as the president of the Indiana Olympians Association.