Meet Ted Leland

"I may be accused of a lot of other things, but being passive and not having firm ideas about the direction and the quality of the programs we offer will not be one . . ."

Ted Leland, the College's new Director of Athletics, sees himself as an educator whose vehicle is physical activity and athletics. The 35-year-old California native was Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation at Northwestern University when he learned that Seaver Peters would be stepping down as Dartmouth's Athletic Director on June 30. Leland had never been to Hanover. He knew several Dartmouth alumni in the Chicago area, but those acquaintances were not a factor in his applying for the job that Peters had held for the past 16 years. "I was not looking for a job when I got this one," Leland said during a recent interview in his Alumni Gymnasium office. "I was very happy with my challenges at Northwestern. I've never been in a hurry to be an athletic director. But when this job came open, I honestly felt that there are only a few schools in the country that have an athletic director's position that had all the ingredients that I wanted. I'd say at the top there are six or seven schools. So when Dartmouth came open I felt compelled to apply. It was the classic seeing it advertised, put your resume in an envelope, send it off, and hope for the best."

Leland's appointment was announced in June by President McLaughlin. As Athletic Director, Leland will be responsible for running a department that employs 85 full-time people and 75 part-time. The department has an annual budget of about $2.5 million that doesn't include a lot of fixed costs such as mowing the lawns and playing fields. With about 1,100 students competing in intercollegiate athletics each year, the department had about 11,000 registrants in its programs last year.

Leland brings impressive credentials to Dartmouth as an athlete, coach, and educator. His first contact with athletics came with Little League baseball. "But over the years I played a tremendous number of sports, Leland said. He is a 1966 graduate of Hay ward (Calif.) High School where his athletic interests focused on wrestling and track. That focus shifted to football when he entered college. Leland was an all-league linebacker, most valuable player, and captain of the football team at Chabot Junior College. He later transferred to the University of the Pacific where he won All-Pacific Coast Conference honors. His senior year he captained the University of the Pacific team and earned the award as the squad's most dedicated player. Leland also lettered in track (his event was throwing the discus), in wrestling, and in rugby and was a member of a northern California All-Star rugby club that played internationally. "I was a journeyman," Leland said of his non-football sports. Continuing his formal education in the classroom, Leland was an assistant football coach and a phys ed instructor at the University of the Pacific, East Tennessee State, and Stanford. He received his B.S. degree from the University of the Pacific in 1970, his master's degree in sports psychology from the same school in 1973, and his Ph.D. in sports psychology from Stanford in 1980. He was appointed assistant athletic director at the University of Houston in 1979 and was named to the Northwestern post in 1981.

Leland feels an athletic director should have both an athletic and coaching background. "Unless you've competed at an intense level, it's difficult to understand the pressures that intercollegiate athletics hold for people," Leland said. "It's not impossible, but it's difficult. I think the same is true of coaching. The fact that I have coached in high pressure situations helps me understand a coach's point of view."

Leland spent the first two months on the job getting to know the College. "Dartmouth has a complex and strong tradition in intercollegiate athletics and recreation," he said. And before you implement changes in almost any area, it's important to understand the history first. So I've spent a lot of time acquainting myself with the College's history. But I think we have already made some progress since I've been here. We've solidified the administrative structure and set some goals for ourselves. In addition, we've identified a number of problems, which is the first step toward solving them. One of our long-term goals is to provide services in terms of facilities, coaching, etc., to make sure that all Dartmouth students have a program that fits their needs and at the same time allows them to realize their potential either as athlete, recreator, or student."

Specifically, the 6-2, 212-pound Leland would like to revitalize Dartmouth's intercollegiate program to make it the "preeminent competitive entity" in the Ivy League. He also wants to help raise funds to build new athletic facilities. "The third thing would be to raise the expectation level of everyone connected with the DCAC, including the students, the coaches, the administration, and the alumni. I think the fourth thing would be to create an environment where the Ivy philosophy of athletics might spread throughout the country and help cure some of the ills of intercollegiate athletics we read about today. I think the last goal would be to improve the relationship between the DCAC and the College in order to cement our place in the educational experience of all Dartmouth undergraduates. "

He went on, "I happen to believe strongly that athletics and recreational activities can contribute in many ways to the social and psychological development of young people. They also provide, as a spinoff, a secondary advantage as a good public relations tool and alumni-rallying point for the College. Intramural programs, club sports programs, physical education programs, and recreation programs all contribute to the development of the individual, in addition to intercollegiate athletics. If we can just provide space for a student, a staff or faculty member to play basketball for an hour once a week, we are contributing to the quality of life and the development of that individual and that is our mission. So it's not just intercollegiate athletics that we're in here."

Leland also feels that an athletic director can have considerable influence on the future of a school's sports fortunes. "He creates an environment and sets the energy level that allows for the striving toward excellence; he prioritizes the services and provides the staffing and is responsible for the long-range vision of the program. However long my term is here, I won't be accused of being a caretaker athletic director. I may be accused of a lot of other things, but being passive and not having firm ideas about the direction and quality of the programs we offer will not be one of my drawbacks."

Leland said he's interested in a broad range of athletic and recreational activities. "Dartmouth provides a great opportunity for me because it's always offered a broad spectrum and it sees athletics and recreation as a part of the educational process. And that's not true everywhere," hesaid. Leland was particularly impressed with President McLaughlin when he asked him during an interview what his agenda and vision were for the DCAC. "The president said that he wanted to be convinced that we were offering the best possible opportunities for the students and that they were having the best possible experience and deriving all the benefits that accrue to people who engage in physical activities," Leland said in recounting his talk with McLaughlin. "Not many college presidents would phrase it that way and that's very important to me. This doesn't mean that we don't want to win. We do. But the most important thing is striving to win because that effort and concentration is what makes athletics special."

Married to the former Stefanie Glavinic, Leland is a proud father. He and Stefanie have a two-year-old daughter and are expecting their second child. Leland said everything has been "super" since they moved from Evanston, Illinois, to Hanover this summer. "We enjoyed Chicago very much, but I think we'll be very happy here," he said. Leland also said he might play some rugby while in Hanover. "I've talked to a couple of fellows," he said, but noted that he probably wouldn't play for the Dartmouth rugby team, which is primarily for undergraduates. Leland said he might try out for "The Old Boys," a recently formed Hanover team.

Time has been good to Ted Leland. Dartmouth's new AD looks much the same today in his office inAlumni Gym as he did in this late '60s photo when he starred at the University of the Pacific.