Gwynn Wilson – who, as a student body representative for USC, met
with Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in 1926 and arranged the
first of what has become one of college football’s most celebrated
rival ries – died Friday, Nov. 13, at his home in Palos Verdes. He
was 95.

Wilson, a life trustee of USC and a life member and former president
of the General Alumni Association, was an active supporter of the
University for many years.

He earned his B.A. degree from USC in 1921. As a student, he was a
440- and 880-yard track star, track captain in 1919 and 1920, and a
member of Phi Alpha – a local fraternity that later became Kappa
Alpha – and Skull and Dagger. He was student body president in 1921.

He served as graduate manager and general manager – precursor to the
present-day athletic director – of the USC student body from 1920 to
1930. It was during this time that he traveled east with his wife,
Marion, to meet with Rockne and organize the USC-Notre Dame football
series. The 50-year anniversary of the series was celebrated in
1977, when then-president John R. Hubbard presented Wilson with the
game ball following a Trojan victory.

From 1930 to 1933, he was associate manager of the Committee for the
1932 Olympic Games, held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He was
also assistant managing director of the Golden Gate International
Exposition in San Francisco in 1939.

He began a long affiliation with the Los Angeles Turf Club Inc. –
operator of the Santa Anita Race Track – in 1934 as assistant general
manager and treasurer, serving in those posts until 1945. Later he
was the club’s general manager and treasurer (1945-51), vice
president and general manager (1951-59), executive vice president
(1959-60) and director (1940-60). He retired in 1960.

In April 1971, USC’s Student Union Building was renamed the Gwynn
Wilson Student Union. The plaque installed on the building reads in
part: “Gwynn Wilson, an exemplary student graduated in 1921, has
enhanced the university in many ways. He served USC with great
distinction as a student body president and as president of the
General Alumni Association. As general manager of the student body
in 1927, he was an outstanding force for the construction of this
building, and as a trustee of the university he has helped in the
Student Union’s renovation.”

Wilson is survived by two children, James DeVoin and Joyce Marie
(Mrs. Harry L. Nelson, Jr.); four grandchildren; and five
great-grandchildren. His wife died in 1990.

[Photo:] Gwynn Wilson, who began Notre Dame rivalry, has died at 95
by Kent Robinson, USC News Service