Academy Honors U.S. Olympic Committee Media Guru Mike Moran
Photo Credit: Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, Photo by Paat Kelly
Mike Moran, longtime public relations executive for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), was honored with the United States Sports Academy’s Distinguished Service Award 15 March at the El Pomar Foundation’s Penrose House in Colorado Springs.
The award was presented by former U.S. Olympic Committee Vice-President Dr. Evie G. Dennis, Trustee Emeritus of the Academy and Chef De Mission for the 1988 United States Olympic Team in Seoul.
Currently a sports and media consultant and Director of Communications for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, Moran has served for almost 40 years as one of the nation's leading sports media and public relations executives in the collegiate, Olympic and amateur athletics fields. He has been involved in many memorable moments in American sports history, including the U.S. Olympic ice hockey team's 1980 "Miracle on Ice", the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games and the domestic Olympics in Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City.
Moran joined the USOC in 1979 after a decade as the Sports Information Director at the University of Colorado. He then served as the USOC's Chief Communications Officer and media spokesman through 13 Olympic Games for almost a quarter century. He retired in 2003 and joined NYC2012, the organization leading New York City's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, as Senior Communications Counselor. He remains involved with Edelman Public Relations, has been named PR Week's 2006 Large PR Agency of the Year, and has acted as a consultant in the firm's Sports & Sponsorship division.
Collectively, Moran has occupied the podium as speaker, moderator, master of ceremonies and spokesman at more than 1,500 events during his career. He remains active as one of the top keynote speakers on the Olympic Games, athletes and sport.
The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is given annually to those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to national or international sports through instruction, research or service. Presented by the Academy since 1984, past honorees have included Dean Smith, Don Shula, George Brett, Martina Navratilova, Harvey Schiller, Bud Selig, Al McGuire and Nancy Lopez. For more information, visit http://www.asama.org/awards.
Academy Award recipients are presented with the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. The Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medallion was designed by the Academy's Sport Artist of the Year 1990, Blair Buswell. Award recipients are also presented with the Academy Rosette, modeled after the Legion of Honour instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. A rosette is a symbol of recognition and affiliation.
