University of Minnesota Athletics
Robert Rutford - M Club Hall of Fame
Robert Rutford
Lifetime Achievement Award
HOF Class of 1995
Robert Rutford, a two-time letterwinner in football and track for the Gophers from 1952 to 1954, after U of M undergrad work earned a PhD in geology in 1969 and embarked on an adventurous career.
He joined the University of South Dakota faculty; directed an Antarctic research project at the University of Nebraska; directed the U.S. Antarctic Research program in Washington, D.C.; and served as Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at Nebraska.
Rutford became president of the University of Texas at Dallas, a post he would hold for 12 years until 1994, when he resigned to become a chaired professor in geosciences at the school.
He made 14 trips to Antarctica; the Rutford Ice Stream there is named in his honor.
Rutford received the University of Minnesota Regents’ Outstanding Achievement Award in 1993, and in 1994 received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from St. Petersburg State Technical University in Russia.