The occasion was certainly a special one on June 30, 2022 in Seattle. Former Kent State athletic director and University of Washington athletic director Mike Lude turned the big 100! Friends, family, former players, and former colleagues gathered in the emerald city to celebrate Lude’s big day.

GP M.A.D.E. Foundation President and Founder Gary Pinkel, former Kent State player and University of Washington assistant coach under athletic director Mike Lude and head football coach Don James, honored Lude with a special tribute and congratulations on an honorable career in college football. Pinkel, a College Football Hall of Fame coach, was one of 10 speakers asked to comment on the life and era of Lude’s career.

Coach Pinkel spoke about Lude’s extraordinary years of leadership and also the hiring of his mentor and coach Don James at Kent while acknowledging Lude’s historical mark on college athletics.

Carol James, wife of the late former head football coach of University of Washington, Don James, is pictured below with football athletic administrative staff from the 1970s and 1980s who also attended the special occasion in honor of Mike Lude’s 100th birthday.