Earle F. Ziegler, Fellow #184 (inducted into the Academy in 1966), President of the Academy 1981-1982, and Hetherington Award recipient 1990, passed away on Saturday, September 29, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Earle celebrated a wonderful 99th birthday in August of 2018 and had been doing well until he became ill with the pneumonia about 3 weeks before he passed away. He is survived by his wife Anne, daughter Barbara and grandson Kenan. He was a friend, colleague, mentor, and leader in Kinesiology.
Earle was born on August 20, 1919 in New York City, USA. At 21, he earned a B.A. in German from the prestigious Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. In the subsequent 11 years he achieved an M.A. in German and a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Education, both from Yale University. Earle was a top-notch athlete in several sports – football, wrestling, swimming, and table tennis.
Before his semi-retirement, Earle taught, coached, researched, published, and administered programs at four great universities (i.e., Yale, Michigan, Illinois, and Western University, Canada). At the age of 70, he experienced mandatory retirement and retired as Dean and Professor Emeritus from Western University, Canada. Throughout his career, more than 100 students took their Master’s and Ph.D. work with him, many of them subsequently became distinguished leaders in the field. From 1948-2015, Earle published 57 books and monographs, and 445 journal articles in the areas of sport philosophy, sport history, sport management, comparative and international aspects, and professional preparation. He is also the namesake of the prestigious Earle F. Zeigler Lecture Award that is given yearly by the North American Society for Sport Management.
Earle’s outstanding dedication and service to professional, scholarly, and professionals societies and associations is well documented. For this he has been honored as few others have been during the history of physical education/kinesiology. Both CAHPER and AAAHPERD bestowed upon him their highest honors. In addition to receiving the top three awards in his field (i.e., Hetherington Award, AAKPE; Gulick Medal, AAHPERD; Alliance Scholar, AAHPERD), Earle received three honorary doctorates including: In 1975 the University of Windsor conferred upon him an Honorary Doctor of Law degree; in 1997 the University of Lethbridge recognized his enduring excellence by awarding him an Honorary Doctor of Science degree; and in 2006 Western University, Canada, bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree.
Earle’s legacy is being maintained, in part, by granting free access to several downloadable versions of his recent books and articles. See: http://earlezeigler.com
