Gifts In Honor Of Blake Nordstrom Creates First Endowed Coaching Position For Husky Athletics

The University of Washington today announced that the head coach for Men's Rowing will become the first endowed head-coaching position in the history of UW Athletics, thanks to a pioneering set of gifts from the Nordstrom family to honor the late Blake Nordstrom. 
  
Blake Nordstrom, Class of '82, rowed for the UW and was a long-time member of the Washington Rowing Stewards, the alumni organization that supports UW Rowing by raising money, building camaraderie and providing strategic direction. He served for decades, developing tight bonds with the coaching staff and many student athletes. Blake Nordstrom, who also was co-president of the Nordstrom retail empire founded by his great-grandfather, died in 2019 at 58. 
 
"My deepest gratitude to the Nordstrom family for their loyalty and leadership, and for this legacy gift that will have a lasting influence on a sport that has come to define the character, and deep tradition, of Washington Athletics" said Director of Athletics, Pat Chun. 
 
The Nordstrom gifts build on the legacy of UW Rowing that was portrayed in the best-selling book and acclaimed film, "Boys in the Boat," the story of the UW's Men's Rowing team that won Olympic gold in the 1936 Olympics.  The family also has ties to Washington Rowing that date back nearly a century.  Willard Wakeman, Blake Nordstrom's maternal grandfather rowed at Washington in the late 1920s. And Bruce and John Nordstrom, Blake's father, and uncle, rowed for Washington in the 1950s. The gift will make rowing at the UW synonymous with the Nordstrom family, in creating the UW's first endowed coaching position. 
 
"Our children, Alex and Andy, and I are thrilled to support this new endowed position for a program that meant so much to Blake," said Molly Nordstrom, Blake Nordstrom's widow. "He valued crew so highly — the sport itself — and the everlasting bonds he made with his teammates. He wanted everyone to have that, he really considered it one of the great blessings in his life." 
 
The gifts come at a time when many Olympic sport programs across the country are facing budget cuts and uncertainty. Creating endowed positions help ensure that there will be racing shells competing on Lake Washington for another century and beyond, said Michael Callahan, head coach for Men's Rowing. Callahan will become the inaugural Blake Nordstrom Endowed Head Coach. The Nordstrom gifts underscore all the lessons learned from spending time on the water as a team, Callahan said. 
 
"Blake had these sayings he would repeat from time to time, like, 'Leave it better than you found it,' and, 'Extend yourself,'" he said. "He would just quietly share those with the young people down here. His name will be a constant reminder to all of us of those values, the lifelong friendships he made here, and the indelible influence he had on all of us.  I am so grateful to the Nordstrom family and honored to have his name permanently attached – for generations to come – to the head coaching position here at Washington." 
 
Callahan stressed another important lesson from Blake Nordstrom: Every crew, every boat can achieve success at all levels, from the first boat to the last.  
 
"Our goal as coaches is to make sure the lessons of rowing translate across everyone here, that every crew reaches their potential, that every crew finds that 'swing,'" the coach said. "Success here is not defined by your wins and losses.  It is defined by learning to become a team and then succeeding as a team, and Blake understood every part of that."