Dick Rasmussen currently serves as the Executive Secretary of the University Athletic Association, a group of eight major research universities comprising the most geographically expansive athletic conference in NCAA Division III. The members of the UAA are Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Emory University, New York University, the University of Chicago, the University of Rochester and Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Rasmussen has served on the NCAA Council, the NCAA Division III Management Council and chaired the Division III Membership Committee. He was a member of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics for six years and also served as a member of the joint focus group that developed the NCAA Diversity Education Program with the Minority Interests and Opportunities Committee. Working with the NCAA Research staff, he also developed an electronic spreadsheet to assist NCAA member institutions in complying with the reporting requirements of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. Mr. Rasmussen is a past-president of the Division III Commissioners Association and currently serves as secretary-treasurer of that organization. At the 2002 NCAA Convention, he was honored by his fellow commissioners with their first Meritorious Service Award recognizing significant, sustained achievement and contributions to college athletics at the national level. In 1994 he helped found the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators and currently serves on the Executive Board of that organization. He also served as a member of the NCAA Baseball Bat Research Panel.

Mr. Rasmussen has made presentations at several NCAA Conventions, NACDA Conventions, NCAA Title IX Seminars, and other regional and national meetings on a variety of topics including financial aid, Title IX, NCAA membership restructuring, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, and the uses of electronic technology. He is also a certified diversity trainer and has conducted workshops on Understanding Diversity, Leadership Development, Hazing, and Team Building.

Prior to assuming his duties as the first Executive Secretary of the UAA, Mr. Rasmussen served as Head Baseball Coach and Business manager for the Department of Sports and Recreation at the University of Rochester. In this capacity, he was a member of the planning group that shaped the original proposals for the formation of the UAA. During his 14-year career at Rochester, Mr. Rasmussen also coached football for nine years and worked for several years as a computer programmer and research analyst in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. His 1980 Rochester Baseball Squad was the first men’s team at the University to qualify for an NCAA Division III team championship.

As an undergraduate at the University of Rochester, Mr. Rasmussen majored in chemistry while competing in football and baseball. During his senior year, he was the recipient of the Louis A. Alexander Award given to the outstanding male athlete at the University of Rochester. A former high school chemistry and physics teacher, Mr. Rasmussen holds a Master’s degree in science education and a Doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Rochester.

Dick and his wife, Sharon, have three children: Bill (age 28) an HF-L and UR graduate who recently completed his Master of Teaching Arts degree and teaches economics at Rush Henrietta High School, Jennifer (age 25) a graduate of HF-L and the New Media Program at Rochester Institute of Technology currently working on an M.B.A., and Jessica (age 20) also an HF-L graduate and currently enrolled at the University of Rochester. Sharon is an associate professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where she teaches physics and serves as Co-ordinator of the Department of Science and Engineering Support.