The Quakers' former athletic director brought Penn into the Ivy League. While the Mitch Marrow incident raises questions over the ideals of academics and athletics, the man who led the University of Pennsylvania to accept the notion of the true student-athlete passed away five days ago. Former Penn Athletic Director Jeremiah Ford II died at the age of 87 December 6 in Rogers, Ark. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Ford had been living in a nursing home for the past two years. Ford will be remembered as the person who brought Penn into the Ivy League in 1954 despite Penn's nationally prominent athletic teams, including a top-ranked football squad. A baseball player and running back for the Quakers from 1929-31, Ford was hired by former teammate and Penn coaching legend George Munger to head freshman athletics and coach the freshman football program on February 1, 1938. He would last three years at that position before resigning to become a Master at St. George's School, a secondary school in Newport, R.I. In the summer of 1953, Ford returned to Penn to head the Athletic Department after sitting on the executive committees of the NCAA and ECAC, and heading the Ivy League Administrative Committee and the IC4A. Over the next few years, Ford led Penn through the biggest athletics overhaul ever seen in Philadelphia. While the Penn football team was leading the nation in attendance and consistently earning top national rankings under Munger, Ford was pushing a move toward academic ideals and redefining the student-athlete. In other words, Ford was busy bringing the Ivy League together under an official agreement, which the eight schools signed in 1954. Fireworks erupted between Ford and Munger because Munger did not agree with the decision, citing the fact that he graduated 90 percent of his players. The deal was signed, however, and Penn football went into a steep decline. In 1956, the Council of Ivy Group Presidents went into effect, bringing Penn and the other seven athletic programs to where they stand today. Ford is survived by his wife, Rita, and children, Jeremiah Ford III and Sally Knapp. Cremation is planned in Rogers, and no memorial service will take place.
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