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UW-Whitewater’s Fick Named Tom Butler Award Recipient

MADISON, Wis.--Tom Fick, who served as the sports information directors at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 1976-2014, has been named the recipient of the 2021 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tom Butler Award.
 
The Tom Butler Award has been presented annually since 1998 to a representative of the print or electronic media for outstanding coverage of WIAC athletics (former WIAC sports information directors may also be considered). The league’s sports information directors select the winner. The award is dedicated to Tom Butler, who served the conference faithfully as its sports information director from 1967-96.
 
During his tenure, Fick saw the school transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women to NCAA Division III and helped foster the growth of Warhawk Athletics into a national power.
 
UW-Whitewater claimed 17 national championships during Fick’s time as SID and an 18th title before his retirement from the institution in January, 2015.
 
He mentored dozens of student workers during his 30-plus years in the profession, referring to his relationships built with students as "absolutely the best part of my job."
 
In addition to his experiences at UW-Whitewater, Fick served as a volunteer in media relations for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (1984), the United States Olympic Committee in Seoul (1988), the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee (1996) and the USOC Press Operations Office at U.S. Olympic Festivals in 1986, 1987 and 1989. Most recently, he served as a volunteer in media services at the Boston Marathon from 2010-12 and as Press Operations Supervisor for the equestrian competition at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
 
In 2014, he received a College Sports Information Directors of America Lifetime Achievement Award and WIAC Special Recognition Award. Fick was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. He resides in Fort Atkinson, Wis.
 
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