[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                       HONORING DR. BOB FREDERICK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to announce 
the sad passing of Dr. Bob Frederick, a distinguished Kansan and 
exceptional human being.
  Dr. Frederick served as athletic director at the University of Kansas 
for 14 years, the second longest tenure in the school history, and a 
period during which the Jayhawk athletics achieved 32 conference 
championships and generated 41 Academic All-Americans, the latter of 
which I'm sure meant the most to Dr. Frederick, as that is the kind of 
person he was.
  Dr. Frederick felt most concerned about the well-being of student 
athletes. First as a coach and later as an athletic director, he showed 
that concern as he personally took an interest in the students at 
Kansas University that were also engaged in the intense dedication that 
it takes to be a college athlete today.
  While very competitive by nature, he was as gracious in defeat and as 
much a class act as any athletic director there ever was. For Dr. 
Frederick, the bottom line was not about winning but, rather, about 
improving and advancing the lives of young men and women.
  Dr. Frederick loved Kansas. As part of the university for 35 years, 
beginning with his bachelor's and master's degrees and walking onto the 
basketball team to his years of serving as assistant basketball coach, 
athletic director, and finally as administrator and assistant 
professor, it is clear Dr. Frederick and Kansans were meant for each 
other.
  Dr. Frederick is perhaps best known for his bold hire of then-unknown 
assistant basketball coach Roy Williams in 1989. Williams, who would 
achieve the winningest decade of any first-time head coach in NCAA 
history, said of Dr. Frederick, ``He is the finest gentleman I've ever 
known in my life.''
  A basketball coach himself at Russell and Lawrence High Schools, as 
well as Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, Dr. Frederick was 
cherished on all sides of our great State. I wish to offer this tribute 
to an outstanding gentleman, Dr. Bob Frederick, and express my sincere 
condolences to his wife, Margey, and his four sons. My thoughts and 
prayers are with his family.

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