Look on the back of any U.S. quarter, and there will be the Latin words E Pluribus Unum. The phrase meaning "out of many, one" is not only one of the building blocks of the United States, but also of the NCAA. The concept that adorns the country's currency and presidential seal also is the foundation of a project designed to illustrate the unity of NCAA member institutions.

To commemorate the first 100 years of the NCAA in 2006, the Association commissioned the creation of a Photomosaic. A Photomosaic compiles hundreds of photos into one unified image, in this case, the NCAA Centennial logo. NCAA staff members solicited member institutions and conferences to submit photographs for the project, and Rob Silvers of Runaway Technology used a special computer program to meld the photographs into the image of the logo.

According to NCAA Centennial coordinator Molly Myers, once photos were obtained from institutions, conferences and other sources, about 80 percent of all NCAA institutions and 100 percent of all conferences are represented in the finished product.

The concept is one that John Johnson, NCAA director of events and promotions, has considered for several years with different possible applications, including NCAA basketball and other championships. The nature of the NCAA -- with more than 1,200 members and 360,000 student-athletes -- lends itself to the Photomosaic model well, Johnson said.

"What better way to visibly demonstrate that we are one Association than to get a photo of significance from each of our members to form the Centennial logo?" he said.

Johnson called the project a kind of "living time capsule."

"It's a way for schools and conferences to say, 'This is important to us,'" he said. "Anybody who views the Photomosaic has an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the NCAA."

Exposure opportunity

Myers and Jaye Pearlman, a contract employee, corresponded with sports information directors, athletics directors, senior woman administrators and conference commissioners in April explaining the project and the hope that all institutions would submit photographs. The photograph parameters were broad -- color and black and white shots were accepted, historic and current photos were acceptable, and any shot that represents student life on an individual campus was permissible, including athletics shots, campus and classroom stills, community service pictures and those of student life.

Among those who believed in the project was Kim Melcher, assistant commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, which had 100 percent participation in the Photomosaic. Melcher said that her conference has a rich history in collegiate athletics and representation was important. One Ohio Valley member -- Tennessee State University -- had 58 Olympians who won 30 medals, including Wilma Rudolph.

"Schools such as ours have a hard time getting recognized, and I think this is just one way of getting their name out there and making sure they are a part of celebrations such as this," Melcher said. "I think it was a great opportunity to be a part of something big . As the eighth-oldest conference, we have a rich history in the NCAA. We've been around for 58 years -- more than half the time the NCAA has been around."

Chuck Lindemenn, commissioner of the Northwest Conference, said all of the member schools in his conference participated as well. Lindemenn, who thought participation by Northwest Conference schools was important, said he sees the project as a way to focus on the NCAA Centennial theme of saluting the 360,000 student-athletes participating in 23 sports at 1,000 member institutions.

"In my view, this effort is meant to represent all our diverse institutions as a part of one, frankly remarkable, Association," he said. "I hope this effort will be viewed as a part of our legacy to future generations of student-athletes. I didn't want any of my schools to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of it."

Multiple benefits

Once the photos were collected, they were catalogued by school name, division, sport, type of photo and gender to ensure the project would reflect the diversity of Association membership. Myers said that while a majority of the shots were action shots of athletics events, different types of student life pictures were represented. Most institutions also submitted captions with their photos.

The pictures were then sent to Rob Silvers, founder of Runaway Technology Fine Art and Commercial Graphics and creator of the Photomosaic technology. Silvers, who invented and patented the Photomosaic process while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spent several weeks developing the finished product.

To create a Photomosaic, Silvers takes a large photo collection and carefully crops the images to become the same shape and size. He then divides the "master" image -- in this case, the Centennial logo -- into a number of grid locations. He compares each photo in the collection with every grid location and places the photo that looks the most visually similar to that area on that spot. The Centennial logo, with its large amount of blue in the middle and small lettering on the edge, presents something of a challenge, but Silvers said if he runs out of blue-dominant photos, he simply finds pictures that look the best.

"It used to take me months until I was happy with one, but I have a lot of experience now," Silvers said. That experience includes Photomosaic stamps for 19 countries, magazine covers for Life and Newsweek and commissioned portraits for former Vice President Al Gore and Microsoft Chair Bill Gates.

Once the project is complete, the finished Photomosaic will debut at the 2006 Convention in Indianapolis. It will have multiple uses throughout the year, including as a print piece to be distributed as a "thank you" to all schools and conferences that submitted photos. It will be displayed at the NCAA Hall of Champions in conjunction with the Century of Champions exhibit, scheduled to run between January 6, 2006, and January 7, 2007. It will be featured in various promotional pieces and online at www.ncaa.org and www.ncaasports.com as well.

The online version will allow users to scroll over the finished product and pull up selected individual pictures and captions. Officials also hope to allow users to link to a school's Web site from the picture of their institution that is featured in the Photomosaic.

Another unique use for the photographs submitted for the project will be available at championships throughout the Centennial year. Officials hope to use "green screen" technology to allow fans to insert themselves into photographs that depict moments that are relevant to a particular sport or to college athletics as a whole. For example, pictures from past basketball championships will be available at the Final Four events in Indianapolis and Boston.

Alongside the sport photographs, Johnson also hopes to provide shots of historically significant moments such as President Gerald Ford signing implementation regulations for the landmark anti-discrimination Title IX law. While he doesn't expect many fans will want to insert themselves into that picture, he said the value lies in the education opportunity.

"Everything we're doing is meant to be thought-provoking," he said. "Hopefully, someone will ask a question they wouldn't have thought to ask before."

The project also will help sports fans to learn more about individual championships and hopefully lead people to support NCAA championships as a whole.

Silvers said a Photomosaic design is a natural fit for an organization like the NCAA.

"The great thing about a Photomosaic is that the small photos can be related to the overall subject," he said. "The NCAA photos show the individual members and participants coming together into one family with a common goal -- to further unity and sportsmanship."