A pioneer in the field of sports medicine, Dan Hanley spent his
career helping athletes at Bowdoin College while becoming an
internationally famous physician. Although they may not know his
name, nearly every amateur and professional athlete in the world
has benefitted from Dan Hanley's work.
A graduate of Governor Dummer Academy, Mr. Hanley came to Bowdoin
in the fall of 1935 and worked his way through college by sawing
wood for the kitchen, waiting on tables in the faculty dining room,
and monitoring the pool hall in the student union. In his free
time, he played football, baseball, and captained the hockey team.
He graduated in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and
proceeded to get his medical degree from Columbia University in
1943. Hanley then served two years as a U.S. Army physician in
World War II in Burma and China. The very day he returned from the
war, he received a call from Bowdoin President Kenneth C.M. Sills
asking him to become the college physician. He accepted the offer
... and remained for 33 years.
At Bowdoin, Hanley expanded the role of college physician by
investigating the causes of athletic injuries rather than merely
treating them. One of the products of these investigations was the
creation of new football cleats - the first of their kind and the
model for generations to come. Hanley served on the U.S. Olympic
Committee medical staff for a remarkable five Olympiads in the
1960s. As the chief physician for the U.S. Olympic team (1964-72),
Hanley led the charge in creating standards against steroid use and
doping in Olympic competition, many of which are the basis for
Olympic drug testing today.
Hanley's medical legacy lives on with his family. Three of his
children became doctors and another works in the medical insurance
field. In 2002, to remember the important difference Dr. Hanley's
work made to so many people, friends and family established the Dan
Hanley Memorial Trust, which recognizes courageous and innovative
work on the part of individuals or organizations to achieve
sustainable improvements for patients.
Dr. Hanley lived with his wife, Maria, in Brunswick for 53 years
and raised four children. His son Sean (Class of 1976) is a Bowdoin
alumnus and his grandson Michael Vitousek is a member of the Class
of 2007. Dr. Hanley passed away in 2001. Mrs. Hanley now lives in
Falmouth, Maine.
