Bison head men’s track and field and cross country coach Don Larson has been awarded the Doctor of Service Award by the NDSU Blue Key Chapter. He received the honor at the 2014 Blue Key Doctor of Service Banquet April 30 at the McGovern Alumni Center.
Larson has been a highly decorated coach during his 35 years at the university. Larson, a 52-time Coach of the Year at various levels, was the 1998 recipient of South Dakota State’s Ralph Ginn Award for Coaching Excellence and is a member of the Howard Wood Dakota Relays Hall of Fame. Going into this season, Larson has directed his track and field and cross country teams to 49 conference team championships.
According to chapter president Kristi Schaffer, this was the 84th year the chapter has recognized a person for outstanding service to the university.
Schaffer said Doctor of Service recipients are individuals concerned with maintaining the proper educational environment at NDSU and are noteworthy for their unselfish dedication and service to the university.
“The Doctor of Service Banquet was a great success. Mr. Larson was quite surprised, and we had a number of past award recipients attend the event including Sherri Schmidt, Erv Inniger, Prakash Mathew and Gene Taylor,” said Schaffer.
Larson earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from South Dakota State University and his master’s degree in physical education from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.