Former UCLA AD PETER DALIS, who "guided the department for 19 years with unprecedented success, died Saturday at his home in Pacific Palisades" at age 76, according to Chris Foster of the L.A. TIMES. The cause of his death "was complications from multiple myeloma." UCLA "won 39 NCAA championships during his tenure," which began in '83. Dalis "had an influence on what was then the Pacific-10 Conference, now the Pac-12." He chaired the TV committee and "helped negotiate long-term contracts with ABC and Fox Sports Net" that brought $200M to the conference. Dalis was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate ADs HOF in '10 (L.A. TIMES, 11/16). In L.A., Jack Wang noted Dalis has been "associated with the school as either a student or an employee for 47 years." His "most prominent accomplishments included the construction of several athletic facilities, including the John R. Wooden Center and the Sunset Canyon Rec Center." Dalis helped grow UCLA's "scholarship endowment from nothing to $24 million," allowing the school to "endow 174 athletic grants-in-aid through private donations." However, his tenure "was not without its blemishes." He fired national championship-winning men's basketball coach JIM HARRICK in '96 after Harrick "paid for a dinner with recruits and lied about it on expense reports," while the softball team "relinquished its 1995 national championship due to NCAA violations" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/15).
