Roger Jackson
Multisport Builder - Inducted 2008
Dr. Roger Jackson played an integral part in bringing the 1988 XV Winter Olympic Games to Calgary and served for an additional seven years as an Executive member of the organizing committee. As Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology, he was the guiding force in the building of the Olympic Oval and the Physical Education Complex at the University of Calgary. He was the Founding Director of the University Sports Medicine Centre and initiated the Faculty’s first graduate and research programs. He has played an active role in university athletics, including serving as president of the Canada West University Athletic Association.
He is a former Director of Sports Canada and former President of the Canadian Olympic Association.
He currently is the Chief Executive Officer for “Own the Podium in 2010” – the initiative designed to help Canada become the number one nation in terms of medals won at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Dr. Roger Jackson is a three-time Olympian (Tokyo, 1964; Mexico, 1968; and Munich, 1972). He won a gold medallist in rowing in the coxless pairs event with George Hungerford at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He was inducted into the University of Calgary Hall of Fame in April 2006. He is a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and Canadian Olympic Order and an Officer of the Order of Canada.
After Induction
Roger Jackson was a senior advisor to the 2012 London Olympic Summer Games bid committee. He served on various boards and committees including his role as chair of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and also the Cantos Music Foundation. In 2010, Roger was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in the builder category. In 2011 he received an honorary degree from the University of Calgary, and in 2012 he received the Alberta Order of Excellence. In 2013, Alpine Canada appointed Roger interim president while they searched for a new president. During Canada’s 150th Birthday celebrations, Roger was included in part six of the Toronto Star’s series “showcasing 150 of the quintessential Canadian sporting characters and moments of the last 150 years” as they highlighted “Canada’s summer sports stars” – where during the 1964 Olympics, in rowing’s coxless pairs, Roger and George Hungerford won Canada’s only gold medal of those Olympic Games.
Timeline - (Some of Roger Jackson's accomplishments)
Athlete
1964 - Coxless pairs Olympic gold medal - Tokyo Summer Olympic Games (with George Hungerford as his rowing partner). They won Canada’s only gold medal during the Games.
1964 - Canada's Sports Hall of Fame - rowing athlete
1964 - Lou Marsh Trophy
1968 - Rome Summer Olympic Games - competitor
1972 - Munich Summer Olympic Games - competitor
Builder
1976 – 1978 Director of Sport Canada
1978 - 1988 U of C - Dean of the Faculty of Education (now Kinesiology)
1982 - 1990 President of the Canadian Olympic Association
1988 - Created the Sport Medicine Center & Founding Director
- Canada West University Athletic Association - President
2005 - Roger Jackson Centre for Health and Wellness Research - opened in June
2005 to 2010 - Own the Podium - Chief Executive Officer
2013 – July 22 to Nov. 24 Appointed interim President of Alpine Canada while they searched for a new president.
Honours
1983 - Officer of the Order of Canada
2005 - University of British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame
2006 - University of Calgary - Hall of Fame
2009 - CBC Sports named him as ‘one of the 25 most influential Canadians in sports for 2009.
2010 - Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame – Builder category
2011 - University of Calgary Honorary Degree Recipient
2012 – The Alberta Order of Excellence
2015 – Western University (in London, Ontario) Honorary Degree
