GREENSBORO, N.C. – The United States Sports Academy will present former Guilford College Director of Athletics Herb Appenzeller its Distinguished Service Award (DSA) Nov. 11. The DSA is given annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to national or international sports through instruction, research or service. Appenzeller will receive the honor during the Academy’s Awards of Sport celebration, where he will also present a lecture on concussions in sport and cheerleading.
A leading scholar consultant in the sports risk-management field, Appenzeller has edited or authored 21 books in sport law and produces The Gym to the Jury newsletter. His distinguished career includes work at Guilford, where he remains the school’s Jefferson-Pilot professor of sport studies emeritus. Appenzeller served 31 years as the Quakers’ athletic director, as well as a faculty member, coach and dean of students. His work as a professor and administrator produced countless scholars, athletes and leaders in their fields. Appenzeller’s vision provided the impetus for the college to create one of the nation’s first majors in sport management in the early 1980s. Guilford recognized his contributions and leadership by renaming the Armfield Athletic Center playing surface in his honor in 2006.
A resident of Summerfield, N.C., Appenzeller has been inducted into at least eight Halls of Fame, including the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame and the Wake Forest University Athletics Hall of Fame. The 1948 Wake Forest graduate played football for coach Peahead Walker and played in the first Gator Bowl, a 26-14 Wake Forest victory over South Carolina.
The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. Located in Daphne, Ala., the Academy is also home to the American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA), which is dedicated to the celebration and preservation of sports history, art and literature.