Warsaw-Thurston Award Gala

Jim Warsaw

Born and raised in Southern California, Jim Warsaw decided to attend the University of Oregon after visiting Eugene following his graduation from Beverly Hills High School in 1965. Shortly before graduation in 1969, Jim left school to work in the family business, Sports Specialties Corp., founded by his father David Warsaw in 1928.

The company grew into the world’s leading licensed sports memorabilia company, and Warsaw rose to head several company offices around the world. He became president of the company in 1981 and held that post until it was sold to Nike in 1993.

Not long before learning he had Parkinson’s disease, he made a substantial gift to the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon to establish the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, the first education and research program of its kind housed in a U.S. college of business. This visionary program created a new category of education that has been used as a model around the world. Sports Illustrated ranked the Warsaw Center the nation’s top program in October of 2002 and The Wall Street Journal grouped the center in the top five programs in 2006.

In 2006, Jim returned to the UO to complete his undergraduate business degree, saying he wanted to set the right example for his own children, as well as “his kids” in the sports marketing program. “I don’t think a day goes by when two things don’t happen: I think of my father, and I think of the University of Oregon”, he said on the eve of his graduation. “I’m a Duck. My values are Oregon values. My philosophy of life is Oregon. I could not go through the end of my life and not say that I graduated from the University of Oregon.” In 2009, Jim Warsaw succumbed to complications from Parkinson’s disease at 61, and he is survived by his wife, Ellyne, and his sons Bryan, Zak and Kyle.

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Annalee Thurston

For more than 35 years Annalee Thurston was a part of the women’s tennis boom that began in the 70’s with the Virginia Slims Circuit and the women’s fight for equality. At the time, Annalee worked for the Long Beach Press Telegram, which sponsored the Virginia Slims Tournament in Long Beach. Annalee had some things in common with Billie Jean King – they were both from Long Beach and also had dads who were firemen in the Long Beach Fire Department.

Annalee later went to work for Billie Jean and her then husband Larry King, and became a close and loyal friend to both, as well as an integral part of their various tennis ventures. She remained with them for over a decade, promoting their tournaments and World Team Tennis.

Eventually, Annalee was recruited by Philip Morris in 1984 as a Senior Consultant to the ground-breaking Virginia Slims Tour where she remained for most of her career.

Annalee unfortunately passed away in 2007 at the early age of 56 from a brain aneurism. The shock of her sudden death left her family and friends devastated. She was such a presence in all the lives she touched, and her family and friends wanted to find a way to honor her memory and her accomplishments.

“She made a difference both in the corporate arena and in her business and personal relationships” said sports legend and social activist Billie Jean King. "It is a true tribute that the first scholarship at the renowned Warsaw Sports Marketing Center to honor a woman is named after Annalee because she did so much for so many of us.”

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