The NCAA celebrated its Centennial this year. So did one of the Association’s first staff members.

Arthur J. Bergstrom, the Association’s first director of enforcement, turned 100 years old September 3. Two days later, the man who dedicated much of his life to serving college athletics died after a short illness.

Born six months after the then-Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was officially established in March 1906 and about three months before the fledgling organization’s first annual convention that December, Bergstrom joined the NCAA staff in 1956 as assistant executive director and director of enforcement.

Bergstrom spent his recent years in the Los Angeles area, and despite the hundreds of miles and the decades that stretch between the present day and when his tenure came to a close in 1976, he continued to stay abreast of Association business. An avid fan of college football and basketball, he spent his days watching television and reading.

To be sure, Bergstrom earned that life of leisure.

After all, few individuals could boast that they, like the NCAA, hit the century mark. Even fewer can say that en route to reaching that grand milestone they’ve had occasion to play a role in the Association’s long and colorful history.

Against those standards, Arthur J. Bergstrom, who laid claim to both, was in honored and rare company.

At the time of his hiring, Bergstrom was one of just a handful of NCAA employees that included the NCAA’s first executive director Walter Byers, and Wayne Duke, who went on to serve as commissioner of the Big Eight and Big Ten Conferences.

While the times certainly have changed in the 30 years since Bergstrom’s retirement, his son, Jon, said Bergstrom remained largely the same steady person he was as an employee. As friends and family gathered with Bergstrom at a party in late August, Jon said one word came up repeatedly: integrity.

"Walter (Byers) would just turn him loose on these investigations and didn’t have to worry. Nobody was going to con him, unless they were a master. He wasn’t going to buy somebody’s sad story — and he got some, I guess," said Jon.

There were other characteristics that set the elder Bergstrom apart. He was well known and well respected. Jon described his father, who was a frequent speaker at high school awards banquets, as entertaining and likable. He recalls a time in fact when he was dining in a restaurant when a well-known coach entered the establishment. Jon introduced himself to the coach, who immediately asked if he was any relation to Arthur.

"He said, ‘Your dad is one of my favorite people.’ For about two or three minutes the man stood and told me how great a guy my dad was," said Jon. "Finally I looked at him and said, ‘Coach, I know that,’ and we laughed."

The son of immigrants from Sweden and Norway, Art Bergstrom was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball at Illinois College for two years. In need of more money to cover school expenses and on the advice of a coach, he became a football and basketball official as a junior in college. He went on to hold several high school teaching and coaching positions.

Bergstrom arrived at the NCAA from Bradley University. He hired on at the school in the spring of 1948 as head varsity football coach. Later that year, he accepted additional responsibilities as director of athletics and managed the dual roles until 1951, when he relinquished coaching duties. Under his leadership, Bradley experienced unprecedented success. The basketball team was ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation and made regular appearances in the NIT and NCAA tournaments. The baseball team made multiple trips to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, and the golf, tennis and track programs also were competitive. He also earned a full professorship in physical education and was promoted to chair of the department.

For all the accomplishments at Bradley, Jon said the job at the NCAA was too good for his father to pass up.

"Financially, it was going to be better and it was something he felt he could do well. It sure broadened his horizons. By the time he retired, he knew everybody and everybody knew him," said the younger Bergstrom.

By Jon’s recollection, his father handled four or five big cases annually, and very much liked his work. "He really enjoyed it and expected to stay there until he retired."

Bergstrom did retire from the national office in 1976, but not before doing significant work to shape the Association. During his 20-year tenure, he not only led the NCAA’s initial enforcement efforts, but he also organized and managed the College Division Basketball Championship tournament before the NCAA created the current three competitive divisions. Bergstrom also served as comptroller. At the time of his retirement, he was in charge of the national office’s move to Mission, Kansas, from downtown Kansas City.

Eva, his wife of 70 years, died in 2002. Bergstrom also has a daughter, Catherine.