Don_Canham

Donald Burrell Canham (April 27, 1918 – May 3, 2005) was a track and field athlete and coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1988. There, he became nationally renowned for his ability to market and sell products bearing the name or logo of the school. In December 1968, he hired Bo Schembechler as head football coach, beginning a new era of success for Michigan's football program. The combination of Canham's aggressive marketing efforts and Schembechler's winning teams helped Michigan set many national attendance records at Michigan Stadium. Since 1975, the school has sold over 100,000 tickets for every home football game—a string of more than 200 contests.