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- Ronald Wopsock, a prominent Ute leader, died at 72.
- He strengthened Ute Tribe-University of Utah relations, promoting athletic opportunities for youth.
- Wopsock's legacy includes a scholarship and a Lifetime Achievement Award for community impact.
SALT LAKE CITY — Ronald Wopsock, the man credited with bolstering athletic opportunities for tribal youth and strengthening relations between the Ute Indian Tribe and the University of Utah, has died. He was 72.
The University of Utah released a statement saying he died on Tuesday. An obituary for Wopsock said he passed at home, among family.
"Ronald Wopsock loved the Ute Indian Tribe, athletics and the opportunities education provides. He dedicated his life to building connected foundations for all three," the university statement said.
The U. said Wopsock was a member of the Uintah Band, a longtime leader of the Ute Indian Tribe and member of the tribe's business committee. University of Utah President Taylor Randall said Wopsock forged the tribe's relationship with the university into its current form.
"Without Ron Wopsock, the University of Utah's decades-long collaboration and partnership with the Ute Indian Tribe would not be what it is today," Randall said. "Committee member Wopsock nurtured, negotiated and reinforced what has become a primary understanding between the institution and an essential member of the state community around us."
The U. said Wopsock believed that athletics "could be a conduit to education" and advocated for both athletic and academic opportunities for Ute youth.
"Ron was a visionary, a true leader," said Lori McDonald, vice president for student affairs. "He believed allowing the university's athletics teams to use the Ute name would be a way to uplift the tribe and have the Ute name known nationally and internationally. He saw a line from athletics to education to economic development. Throughout it all, his love for the Ute Tribe and its youth was always on his mind."
Wopsock received a Lifetime Achievement Award "for making a significant impact on the advancement of the Indigenous community at the local, state and national level," the U. said. Additionally, the university has a scholarship set up in his name in memory, which is accepting donations.
His obituary said Wopsock's father often asked him, "What have you done for your people today?"
"This instilled his drive to protect and fight for his people," the obituary said.
