Former UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero was honored by Lead1 Association on Sept. 19 as the recipient of the 2023 Homer Rice Award for his significant and meaningful contributions to intercollegiate athletics.
Under Guerrero's guidance, UCLA won 73 conference championships in 16 different sports, produced more than 800 All-Americans and featured 11 Honda Award winners, including the 2003-04 and the 2018-19 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. In his 18 years at UCLA (2002-20), the Bruins finished second five times and third four times in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings.
Guerrero served as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) President in 2011-12 and was a three-time NACDA Athletics Director of the Year honoree (2013-14 and 2006-07 with UCLA and 2001-02 with UC Irvine). In 2017, he was honored by the National Football Foundation (NFF) with the John L. Toner Award, which recognizes an athletics director who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football. He was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2021 and honored with its James J. Corbett Memorial Award in 2022.
Over the course of his career, Guerrero had significant experience in committee work at both the NCAA and conference levels, having chaired a number of committees along the way. He chaired the Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee for two years and also chaired the NCAA Division I Basketball Academic Enhancement Group and the NCAA Working Group on behalf of the Division I Men's Basketball Rice Commission. Guerrero was a member of the Rose Bowl Management Committee for 17 years and was also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the Institute for Sport and Social Justice, the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center, REVELxp, the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA, the Southern California Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the McLendon Foundation and the United States International University Sports Federation (USIUSF), where he began serving his term as president in July 2020. As the Chair of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in 2009-10, he was involved with the negotiation of the new $10.8 billion, 14-year NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament television package, as well as the decision to expand the Tournament to 68 teams.
Guerrero came to UCLA from UC Irvine, where he had served as UCI's fifth permanent director of athletics for 10 years (1992-2002), helping to elevate that program to unprecedented success. Prior to arriving at UCI, Guerrero worked at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he led that program to national prominence while serving as athletics director for five years (1988-92).
Additional accolades garnered by Guerrero during his administrative career include: named one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated (2003); named one of the nation's 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine (2004); named the Dr. Myles Brand BCA Administrator of the Year by the Black Coaches and Administrators organization (2010); received the NACDA John McLendon Pioneer Award, honoring minority "firsts" (2010); received the NABC Cliff Wells Appreciation Award (2011); and received the YMCA Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award (2020).
Guerrero received his Bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1974 and played second base for the Bruins for four years. Known as "Warrior" during his playing career, he was inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Guerrero also earned a Master's degree in public administration in 1982 from Cal State Dominguez Hills and was named to the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society for Public Affairs and Public Policy that same year. He is now serving as the President of the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF).
Under Guerrero's guidance, UCLA won 73 conference championships in 16 different sports, produced more than 800 All-Americans and featured 11 Honda Award winners, including the 2003-04 and the 2018-19 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. In his 18 years at UCLA (2002-20), the Bruins finished second five times and third four times in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings.
Guerrero served as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) President in 2011-12 and was a three-time NACDA Athletics Director of the Year honoree (2013-14 and 2006-07 with UCLA and 2001-02 with UC Irvine). In 2017, he was honored by the National Football Foundation (NFF) with the John L. Toner Award, which recognizes an athletics director who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football. He was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2021 and honored with its James J. Corbett Memorial Award in 2022.
Over the course of his career, Guerrero had significant experience in committee work at both the NCAA and conference levels, having chaired a number of committees along the way. He chaired the Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee for two years and also chaired the NCAA Division I Basketball Academic Enhancement Group and the NCAA Working Group on behalf of the Division I Men's Basketball Rice Commission. Guerrero was a member of the Rose Bowl Management Committee for 17 years and was also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the Institute for Sport and Social Justice, the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center, REVELxp, the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA, the Southern California Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the McLendon Foundation and the United States International University Sports Federation (USIUSF), where he began serving his term as president in July 2020. As the Chair of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in 2009-10, he was involved with the negotiation of the new $10.8 billion, 14-year NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament television package, as well as the decision to expand the Tournament to 68 teams.
Guerrero came to UCLA from UC Irvine, where he had served as UCI's fifth permanent director of athletics for 10 years (1992-2002), helping to elevate that program to unprecedented success. Prior to arriving at UCI, Guerrero worked at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he led that program to national prominence while serving as athletics director for five years (1988-92).
Additional accolades garnered by Guerrero during his administrative career include: named one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated (2003); named one of the nation's 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine (2004); named the Dr. Myles Brand BCA Administrator of the Year by the Black Coaches and Administrators organization (2010); received the NACDA John McLendon Pioneer Award, honoring minority "firsts" (2010); received the NABC Cliff Wells Appreciation Award (2011); and received the YMCA Martin Luther King Human Dignity Award (2020).
Guerrero received his Bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1974 and played second base for the Bruins for four years. Known as "Warrior" during his playing career, he was inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Guerrero also earned a Master's degree in public administration in 1982 from Cal State Dominguez Hills and was named to the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society for Public Affairs and Public Policy that same year. He is now serving as the President of the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF).