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Dick Van Kirk (Richard L. Van Kirk Business Executive Amateur Athlete

Born: September 23, 1936, Omaha Nebraska Parents: Reo P. Van Kirk, father  (1911-1994) Rose R. Turco Van Kirk, mother (1914-1977) Siblings: Harley Joseph Van Kirk (1934-1962) Vernon Frank Van Kirk (1942-1943) Nancye Louise Van Kirk (1937-2013) Michael Louis Van Kirk (1946-) Christopher John Van Kirk (1949-)

Dick Van Kirk was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but soon moved with his family to northern Indiana (South Bend, Mishawaka), where he spent most of his early grammar school years. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1950, and Dick attended West Phoenix High School, graduating in 1954.

College activities: He attended the California Institute of Technology, earning a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1958. While at Caltech he was active in student politics, serving as a class officer and a student body officer. He also served as sports editor for the California Tech, the weekly student newspaper. Dick competed in four sports at Caltech. He played baseball for one year, then gave it up to concentrate on track & field. He also played four years of football and basketball. In football he was an all-conference quarterback and MVP, leading the conference in total offense his senior year. In track and field he set school records in each of his three varsity seasons. His long jump record still stands after 58 years. At graduation, he was presented with the Frederich Hinrichs memorial award as the outstanding member of the senior class.

Post-college athletics: After graduating from Caltech, Dick joined the Southern California Striders, the nation's leading amateur track team. He competed for three years on the Striders, winning the Southern Pacific AAU title and the Mount San Antonio Relays in the long jump. He finished in the top ten in the long jump in the national AAU championships in 1960. He was world-ranked in 1960 and 1961.

Work career; Dick joined Procter & Gamble in their manufacturing division, where he worked five years as an industrial engineer and production supervisor. He then returned to Caltech where he served as Associate Director of Development for two years. After Caltech he joined Riverside Cement, serving as Production Superintendent for two years. He then joined Arthur Young & Co., a predecessor firm of Ernst & Young. He was with Arthur Young/Ernst & Young for 28 years. He was West Region Director of Management Consulting for 11 years, and head of the Manufacturing Consulting group of the West Region for five years. While at Ernst & Young, he consulted for four years to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics. He took a leave from Ernst & Young and served as Vic President-Technology, for the 1984 Summer Olympics, during which time he was responsible for the activities of about 8,000 persons in the technology area.

Special Olympics: Dick took early retirement at the end of 1994 to become President and CEO of California Special Olympics.