Douglas Harding Mitchell, (February 19, 1939 – July 20, 2022) was a

Canadian Football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

player, executive, and commissioner. A graduate of

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

(UBC), Mitchell played three games for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

in 1960. He earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree from UBC in 1962. Mitchell later became the commissioner of the CFL, serving from 1984 to 1988. He was inducted into the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum ...

, was named Sportsman of the Year in 2007 by the Calgary Booster Club and in 2010 was listed by the Globe and Mail as one of the Power 50 of Canadian sports. His professional and community-based achievements were recognized with an appointment to the Order of Canada in 2004 and in 2007 he was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence. He worked at the national law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais, and sat on the CFL Board of Governors. He was married to

Lois Mitchell Lois Elizabeth Mitchell (née Boulding; June 22, 1939) is a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who was the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from 2015 to 2020. Her appointment as Lieutenant Governor was made by Governor General of Cana ...

, who was

lieutenant governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

2015–2020. Doug Mitchell was also the father of Scott Mitchell, president of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats since 2007. The

Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre (formerly UBC Winter Sports Centre, also known as UBC Thunderbird Arena) is a LEED Silver certified indoor arena in Greater Vancouver, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. Located in the ...

on the campus of UBC and the

Mitchell Bowl The Mitchell Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the more westerly location of the two semifinal venues. The winner of this game ...

semifinal of

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confe ...

are named in his honour. Mitchell and his wife also founded the U Sports Athletes of the Year Awards, given annually to the top male and female athletes in

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the C ...

. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder in 2021. Mitchell died on July 20, 2022.

References

External links

CFLapedia biographyOrder of Canada citationCalgary Stampeders biographyBloomberg Businessweek biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Doug 1939 births 2022 deaths BC Lions players Canadian Football League commissioners Colorado College Tigers football players Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Officers of the Order of Canada Players of Canadian football from Alberta Sportspeople from Calgary UBC Thunderbirds football players Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees