Academy Honors Olympic Historian Dr. Norbert Müller
Dr. Norbert Müller, a world-renowned Olympic historian and professor, was honored with the United States Sports Academy’s Distinguished Service Award. Academy President and CEO Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich presented the award to Müller during a special presentation in Greece during International Olympic Committee meetings on 5 June.
Dr. Müller is the Director of the Olympic Research Department at the University of Mainz, a life member of the International Olympic Academy and a former Chairman of the German Olympic Academy (1981-1998). In addition, he is a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Commission for Olympic Education and Culture, president of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee, president of the German Pierre de Coubertin Committee and vice president of the International Fair Play Committee.
Dr. Müller received his Ph.D. from the University of Graz in Austria. He has taught sports history at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany since 1977. A visiting professor at the Universities of Graz (1982), Prague (1988), Strasbourg (1991), Heidelberg (1994), Saskatchewan (1998) and Beijing (2007), Dr. Müller has published several internationally-recognized publications about the life and works of Pierre de Coubertin. Since 1968, Müller has been investigating the Olympic Games. He has done field research at every Olympic Game since 1984.
For his service, Dr. Müller also received the Olympic Order in 1996, the French Order of the Legion d'honneur in 2000 and the Athens Prize of the Hellenic Olympic Committee in 2005.
Presented by the Academy since 1984, 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. Past honorees include Dean Smith, Bobby Allison, Don Shula, Martina Navratilova, Harvey Schiller, Pat Summitt, Eddie Robinson, George Steinbrenner, Bud Selig and Nancy Lopez. For more information, visit http://www.asama.org/awards.
Müller was presented with the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. The 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.
