Publish Date: Jan 31, 2019
Dorothy Middaugh Wallace, former Hartnell coach and a 2013 inductee in the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame, died Jan. 31. She was 97.
In 1955, Wallace began teaching at Hartnell and became department chair for physical education. She taught and coached field hockey, softball, basketball, tennis, archery, dance, badminton, swimming and diving. As aquatic director, she became the first woman at the college level to coach men's varsity sports: swimming and diving.
Wallace was a leader in the establishment and expansion of women’s intercollegiate athletics and an influential advocate for the passage of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that required gender equity in scholastic athletics. Previously, she had been instrumental in the development and organization of the California Field Hockey Association and the Northern California Women's Basketball Association.
Wallace was elected to the Ford California Sports Hall of Fame and was further recognized by the California State Assembly for her contribution to women's education. She was an inspiration for her students who appreciated her as a mentor and friend. In 2005, she received Hartnell’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.
The Salinas native graduated in 1941 from Salinas Junior College, as Hartnell was first called, before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University.
Contributions may be made in Wallace’s memory to the Dorothy Wallace Hartnell College Scholarship Fund, Hartnell College Foundation, 411 Central Ave., Salinas, CA 93901.