Fiesta Sports Foundation

Born in Dubuque, Iowa on Aug. 7, 1929, Don Dupont earned an accounting degree from Loras College and spent his early career serving in the Army during the Korean War. After leaving the military, Dupont moved to Chicago to work as an accountant at Arthur Andersen before transferring to oversee the firm's Phoenix office. In Arizona, Dupont married his wife, Janet Bahl, and contributed to and recruited for Arizona State University's School of Accountancy. In his honor, the University then established the Don Dupont Faculty Excellence Award.

It was in Arizona where Dupont met Jack Stewart, a client of his firm and the owner of the Scottsdale-based Camelback Inn. Stewart invited Dupont to join a group of other Phoenix businessmen attempting to propose an Arizona-based bowl game to the NCAA. At the time, the only bowl game in the West was the Rose Bowl and the NCAA was uncertain about the need for another bowl game in the region. Dupont agreed and became the treasurer on the executive committee, where he established the bowl's nonprofit status and donated a percentage of its profits back to the community, which was the ultimate reason the NCAA approved the proposal.

Eventually, Dupont became president of the Fiesta Bowl in 1979. That year, he invited the University of Arizona to make its first appearance at the Fiesta Bowl and turned down a contract allowing second-place teams from the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences to play in the Fiesta Bowl. It was important to Dupont to maintain the bowl's independence and requirements in selecting which teams would compete.

Promoted to Andersen's world headquarters in 1982, Dupont moved to Illinois with his wife before retiring in 1990 and moving back to Dubuque in 2012. Dupont passed away on June 29, 2019, leaving behind a legacy of civic work in the ASU and greater Phoenix communities.

Karl Eller was born in Chicago on June 20, 1928. At the age of nine, Eller and his family moved to Tucson, where he attended Tucson High School and was a two-sport athlete in football and basketball, winning a football state championship in 1945. After graduating in 1946, Eller served three years in the Army, including two years in Japan.

Following his military service, Eller enrolled at the University of Arizona. There, he met his wife, Joan Stevens. Shortly after the couple graduated from the university, Eller began his career in advertising, working for the New York-based Foster & Kleiser.

Bill Shover recruited Eller specifically for his network television contacts — an asset that proved invaluable when pitching a new bowl game to the NCAA and major networks. Eller joined the executive committee as a founding member in 1971. Seven years later, he played an instrumental role in expanding the Pac-8 Conference by adding both ASU and the University of Arizona.

In 1959, Eller began working for the Needham, Louis and Brody advertising agency in Chicago where his most notable achievement was creating miniature candy bars for Mars, Incorporated. Eller worked for three years at the Chicago-based firm before moving back to Arizona in 1962. Upon his return to the state, he purchased the Arizona branch of Foster & Kleiser and renamed it Eller Outdoor Advertising. After purchasing several newspapers, television and radio stations, the outdoor advertising company evolved into Combined Communications.

Eller was heavily invested in the formation of two Phoenix professional sports teams: the WHL's Phoenix Roadrunners, founded in 1967, and the NBA's Phoenix Suns, founded in 1968. In 1968, he was also named one of three investors in the Suns.

In 1971, Eller joined the eight other founders who brought the Fiesta Bowl to Arizona and became instrumental in expanding the PAC-8 Conference, later known as the Pac-12 Conference, by adding both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona. In the 1980s, Eller became the CEO of Circle K and expanded their operations to the second-largest convenience store chain in the country. In 1992, Eller purchased Gannett's Billboard business. Within five years, it became one of the largest media companies in the U.S. He would sell the business in 1997 for $1.5 billion.

Eller officially retired in 2001 but remained active within the University of Arizona's Board of Trustees. On March 10, 2019, Eller passed away. His legacy lives on through achievements like the Fiesta Bowl, Mars mini candy bars and the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management.

Glenn Hawkins worked closely with founder Bill Shover to launch the proposal for an Arizona bowl game. Hawkins, an advertising executive with nearly 25 years of experience in the sports industry, was an avid booster for Sun Devil Athletics, even donating the team's award for outstanding sportsman.

Hawkins attended the annual Football Awards Banquet in December 1968, when then ASU President G Homer Durham declared, "Maybe we should start our own bowl game," in light of ASU ending the season without a bid to one. President Durham's statement motivated Hawkins to seek out Shover's advice and communications expertise. Together, the two worked to promote the idea of an Arizona bowl game. Hawkins drafted a letter of invitation to the Adams Hotel and mailed it to 25 guests and the media, expressing the desire to organize support and gain insight into the process to propose an Arizona bowl game.

Hawkins worked with Shover and Jack Stewart to establish the Fiesta Bowl's executive committee and recruit founding members. As a part of his legacy, Fiesta Sports Foundation honors Hawkins with the annual Glenn Hawkins Volunteer of the Year award. The award celebrates Hawkins' work by recognizing the Fiesta Sports Foundation volunteer who demonstrates the same characteristics on which the Fiesta Bowl was founded: "dedication, enthusiasm and the desire to create an unmatched experience."

George Isbell was born in Evanston, Illinois, on Jan. 29, 1937. He later moved to Oxford, Ohio to earn his bachelor's degree in economics and finance from Miami University. In 1961, after his time at the university, he joined The Harris Bank in Chicago and pursued his Master of Business Administration in Finance at Northwestern University. In 1957, Isbell married his wife Barbara "Marcy" Marcin. A decade later, Isbell and his wife moved to Phoenix after he accepted a position at the Arizona Bank. Later, Isbell worked at the United Bank of Arizona, eventually becoming the president and CEO.

During his time in Phoenix, Isbell's work produced the memorable 1975 Fiesta Bowl, where Arizona State fought against Nebraska at Sun Devil Stadium. Eventually, Isbell became the president of Marshall & Ilsley Trust Company of Arizona, and he retired from the company in 2002.

Also of note, Isbell served as president of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, was a life member of the Scottsdale Charros, the director and president of the Paradise Valley Country Club, chairman of the Committee for Representative Government and director of Barrow Neurological Foundation.

Isbell passed away on April 10, 2020, leaving his mark on the Fiesta Sports Foundation and a legacy of charitable efforts in his communities.

James "Jim" Meyer was born in St. Louis, Missouri on May 24, 1942. In eighth grade, Meyer and his family moved to Alton, Illinois. After earning a degree from the University of Kansas School of Business, Meyer moved to New York City and joined the Junior Executive Training School (JETS) at Merrill Lynch. While in New York, Meyer met his wife, Karen. Together, they moved to Arizona.

Meyer joined the Fiesta Bowl executive committee at the request of fellow founder Jack Stewart, who worked with Meyer as a stockbroker. As one of the nine founders who brought the Fiesta Bowl to Arizona, Meyer became the committee's treasurer and chief financial officer as they worked to propose the Arizona bowl game to the NCAA. In his role, Meyer managed and sought funding for the foundation's initiatives down to presentation materials for the founders' initial proposal to the NCAA.

In addition to being a founder of the Fiesta Bowl, Meyer was an active member of the Scottsdale Charros and Scottsdale Rotary. He also sat on the University of Kansas Chancellor's Athletic Board. In his personal life, Meyer was a member of the Paradise Valley Country Club and was an avid tennis and golf player. Meyer passed away on Jan. 15, 2026, leaving behind a legacy of work in the Lawrence, Kansas and greater Phoenix communities.

Meyers joined the executive committee at the invitation of Jack Stewart, who had worked with him as his personal attorney. As one of the original nine founders, Meyers brought the sharp, aggressive legal mind needed to navigate NCAA regulations, negotiate conference partnerships and structure the bowl's legal foundation.

The idea for an Arizona bowl game stemmed from Meyers' desire to have Arizona State University or a Western Athletic Conference champion in a Tempe-based bowl game. At the time, California had its Rose Bowl and New Mexico had the Sun Bowl, but the rest of the Western region of the United States lacked college football bowls. Once the founders' NCAA proposal to bring a bowl game to Arizona was approved, Meyers contributed significantly to the Fiesta Bowl's advertising and media contracts. When ASU beat the Florida State Seminoles in the inaugural Fiesta Bowl, Meyers – known for being a no-nonsense corporate attorney – successfully negotiated a TV contract that netted $55,000 for the bowl. Meyers also played a key role in securing Sunkist as the sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl game in 1986, continuing the game's "bowl of firsts" legacy as the first bowl game sponsored by a corporation.

While Meyers was chairman of the team selection committee in 1982, the Fiesta Bowl made the landmark shift from a Christmas Day game to New Year's Day. Alongisde the nation's most prestigious postseason games, the Fiesta Bowl and its marquee matchups remained at the top of the television ratings.

William "Bill" Shover was born in 1928 in Beech Grove, Indiana. He had an entrepreneurial spirit from the beginning, with his first job at eight years old selling newspapers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a nickel. His passion for college football dates back to 1933, when he attended a Notre Dame football game with his father. As he grew older, his brother-in-law treated him to a Notre Dame game each season. In grade school, Shover even played football, competing in championships like the Butler Bowl, named after the local Butler University.

At 18, Shover joined the army. After 13 months of service, he used his benefits to attend Butler, where he majored in journalism. Once graduated, Shover joined the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News before then-assistant publisher Eugene Pulliam asked Shover to relocate to Phoenix to build the newspaper there. In Phoenix, he would continue to establish himself at The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette, working there for 40 years.

In 1968, after ASU football won 8 games but was passed over for a bowl game, Shover crossed paths with fellow founder Glenn Hawkins, and the push for the Fiesta Bowl found its communications engine. On Jan. 10, 1970, when proposing the bowl game to the NCAA's Extra Events Committee, Shover and the eight other founders bought a model of Sun Devil Stadium to demonstrate the 55,000 seats they secured. Their main pitch for the bowl game was that it would be "more than a game," creating an impact on Arizona communities through service efforts. While their initial proposal was denied due to the committee being unable to "approve a first-time applicant," the proposal for an Arizona bowl game was approved the following year and sanctioned in April 1971 by the NCAA.

Shover has left a legacy of leveraging his communications work to impact communities. Nationally, Shover is recognized for his efforts including the return of the anchor for the USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor to the Arizona State Capitol; to make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday an Arizona holiday; and for coordinating the visit of Pope John Paul II to Arizona. Locally, Shover had roles in founding the Arizona Educational Foundation in 1983, launching the Phoenix Suns and chairing the effort to bring Super Bowl XXX to Tempe.

Jack Stewart was born on Jan. 24, 1904 in Fargo, North Dakota. In his youth, Stewart played football and was selected twice as an all-state quarterback. Through an athletic scholarship, he attended South Dakota State University and eventually transferred to the University of North Dakota in 1923. While in school, Stewart began covering sports and later the North Central Athletic Conference for numerous newspapers. After graduating, Stewart briefly accepted a role as a sports editor for the Daily Illini at the University of Illinois before returning to North Dakota. In 1930, while working as a campaign director, Stewart made the decision to move to California, where he would continue his work as a sportswriter. A few years later, Stewart accepted a position as a publicist in Phoenix.

Once in the city, Stewart was inspired to build a pueblo-style hotel and received funding from John C. Lincoln, who funded $200,000 and a patch of land between Camelback Mountain and Mummy Mountain. Stewart's Camelback Inn opened in December 1936 with 77 casita-inspired rooms and operated as a seasonal winter resort due to the lack of air conditioning. In 1967, the inn was sold to Bill Marriott, acquired by the Marriott Corporation, and is now known as the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa.

The same year, Stewart donated $100,000 in trust funds to the University of North Dakota, most of which was used to fund construction of the Winter Sports Center. His donations funded several annual athletic scholarships in his name. In 1969, he received the first University of North Dakota Letterman's Club Honorary Award. In 1972, he was named by the Scottsdale Real Estate Board as the Outstanding Citizen of 1972, for his work in developing the city.

On Dec. 21, 1968, Stewart authored a guest column in the Arizona Republic expressing Arizona's need to host a bowl game and the advantages it could bring to Phoenix. As fellow founders Bill Shover and Glenn Hawkins were forming the Executive Committee, Shover proposed Stewart as the chairman. Stewart recruited his lawyer, Donald Meyers, and his stockbroker Jim Meyer to the executive committee. Together, the nine founders formed the Executive Committee of the Greater Phoenix Sports Foundation, now known as Fiesta Sports Foundation.

Stewart served as the chairman for the inaugural Fiesta Bowl in December 1971 featuring ASU versus Florida State. Stewart died in Scottsdale on Feb. 8, 1973, shortly after finalizing the sale of the Camelback Inn.

George Taylor was born on Sept. 11, 1925 in North Dakota. As a child, he was awarded the "Most Industrious Boy in America," after winning a Ward's catalog national sales contest. As a prize, Taylor and his family took a train trip during the Great Depression to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. A few years later, the Taylor family moved to Portland, Oregon, leading to Taylor's enlistment in the Marine Corps during WWII. After the war, Taylor attended Portland State before transferring to the University of Oregon, where he became a lifelong supporter of the Ducks.

During his career, Taylor spent 27 years with Coca-Cola, ending up as a general manager at the Phoenix Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Following that role, Taylor was appointed by Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt as the first executive director of the Arizona Lottery.

Fiesta Bowl founder Bill Shover recruited Taylor, along with Karl Eller, to join the bowl's executive committee as founding members. Taylor had extensive marketing skills, which Shover believed would help promote the proposed bowl game. When working on the Arizona bowl game proposal, Taylor collaborated with ASU to create a desktop-sized model of the newly expanded Sun Devil Stadium. The model would travel with the founders as they pitched the Arizona bowl game until the NCAA approved the Fiesta Bowl in 1971.

Aside from the Fiesta Bowl, Taylor's civic contributions include being a Kiwanis President and being honored at Fleet Week in San Diego, California for his military service. Taylor passed on May 8, 2019, leaving behind a legacy of work in his various communities.