Co-ordinator of the world’s first Special Olympics, former Western professor and alumnus Frank Hayden, BA ’55 (physical education), was honoured Oct. 22 with the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hayden, McMaster University professor emeritus and Special Olympics visionary, will receive the award for his leadership that helped shape the Special Olympics movement.
Following his bachelor’s degree in honors physical education at Western, Hayden completed his master’s degree in 1958 and his PhD in 1962 at the University of Illinois, where he worked with Dr. Thomas Cureton in the Physical Fitness Research Laboratory.
As a scholar in the University of Toronto’s School of Physical and Health Education, Hayden demonstrated that while a fitness gap existed between children with cognitive disabilities and those without, it could be narrowed significantly with strength and cardiovascular conditioning. He published a book on his findings in 1964 and began advocating for national games for people with cognitive disabilities.
His work caught the attention of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver at the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, who convinced Hayden to bring his expertise to Washington, D.C. In 1968, he co-ordinated the first Special Olympics, a co-operative venture of the Kennedy Foundation and the Chicago Park District. The games brought together 900 athletes from 26 states, as well as a floor hockey team from the school where he had conducted his research Canada inaugurated its Special Olympics in 1969.
Hayden served as Special Olympics executive director from 1968-1972, then returned to teaching at Western. In 1975, he joined McMaster University as the School of Physical Education and Athletics director. He held the position until 1981, when he took a leave to spearhead the international development of Special Olympics. He retired from teaching in 1988, but remains involved with Special Olympics Canada. He has received honorary degrees from McMaster University, University of Calgary, University of Toronto and St. Mary’s University.
In 2000, Hayden was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.