John Mays, BS ’74 (physical education), MEd ’75 (curriculum & instruction)

Global Citizen Award Winner

For more than 40 years, John Mays has been an educator, administrator, and track coach working with inner-city youth in Portland, Oregon, Vancouver, Washington, and surrounding areas.

When he was 12 years old, Mays met Phil Walden, his teacher and coach at Holladay School in Portland. Walden would go on to become Mays’s mentor, encouraging him to use his athletic skills to get an education and to always put education first.

Mays took that advice to heart, pursuing his associate’s degree at Lane Community College, followed by his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oregon. At both LCC and UO, he competed as a sprinter on the track and field teams.

After graduation, Mays worked with Bill Bowerman and became the first African American sprint coach at Oregon. He recalls Bowerman telling him, “John, you aren’t the fastest or the slowest, but I like you because you’re intelligent and you can relate to people.”

From those experiences and encouragement from Walden, Mays became a teacher, coach, and administrator himself. He has served as a volunteer coach and board member for Albina Roadrunners Sports Program for 35 years, where he works with at-risk youth.