The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Lower Columbia College (LCC) has announced that Tom Hansen is the 2016 Alumni of the Year.

Hansen began his community college education at LCC in 1955, and attended for two years before transferring to the University of Washington (UW) to pursue a degree in journalism.

Over the course of a career spanning more than four decades, Hansen left a mark on the world of collegiate athletics. He served as Pac-10 (now Pac-12) commissioner for 26 years until his retirement in 2009.

Hansen is perhaps best known for overseeing an era of growth for college football. He served as administrator for the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA’s) Football Television Program for 11 years when it held the rights to all college games. He subsequently developed the Pac-10’s football television program while serving as Commissioner, and even played a small role in the development of the television sports network ESPN. Hansen had a major role in the founding and administration of the Bowl Championship Series for postseason football, which contributed greatly to the elevation of college football to a major national sport. Hansen is a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, and has been recognized by the Football Foundation and Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.

While serving as a national leader in collegiate athletics administration, Hansen oversaw the development of women’s programming at both the NCAA and Pac-10 levels.

Hansen will be honored (in absentia) at the Lower Columbia College Foundation’s Horns & Halos Gala, to be held September 10, in the Rose Center for the Arts on the LCC campus.