John J. Clune (October 29, 1932 – April 4, 1992) was the long-time director of athletics at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

. The

Clune Arena The Cadet Field House is an indoor sports complex in the western United States, located at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The multi-purpose facility was built in 1968, and is at an approximate elevation of above ...

at the academy is named in his memory. A native of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, where he earned All-American honors in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and held scoring records that lasted for 30 years. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, completed the

Armed Forces Staff College The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multinat ...

in 1959 and the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

in 1972. His initial assignments were in missile operations, missile maintenance and administration. He served as an Air Officer Commanding at the Air Force Academy from 1965 to 1968. Prior to returning the academy, he was chief of the Electronics and Equipment Division,

Air Force Logistics Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

and Chief of the Logistics Engineering Branch, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. During his tenure as the Air Force Academy athletic director, he arranged for the academy to become a member of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

, the first service academy to join a conference. He was responsible for initiating a 10-sport intercollegiate program for women when the first class was admitted in 1976. Once joining the WAC, Col. Clune served on the compliance committee, finance committee and the extra events committee. Clune served as president of the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...

and as a member of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's Postseason Football Committee. He is the former chairman of the board of directors of the

College Football Association The College Football Association (CFA) was a group formed by many of the American colleges with top-level college football programs in order to negotiate contracts with TV networks to televise football games. It was formed in 1977 by 63 schools from ...

and served as chair of the NCAA Voting Committee. He was also instrumental in working with Colorado Springs civic leaders in bringing the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...

, Olympic House and two Olympic Sports Festivals to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. He served as the president of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association and was one of the 10 board members designated by Congress to serve on the Academy Board, which is the governing body of the Air Force Academy. While in the military, Clune was rated as a senior missileman. Among his military decorations the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, two

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

s and the

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

. Clune was married to Pat Clune and had 4 kids. John Clune, Cathy Clune, Michael Clune, and Tim Clune Clune died of cancer in 1992 after serving 16 years as the athletic director at the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

. In honor of his longtime service to Air Force athletics, the basketball arena within the Cadet Field House at USAFA was renamed

References

1932 births 1992 deaths Forwards (basketball) Air Force Falcons athletic directors Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks United States Air Force officers Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey American men's basketball players Military personnel from New Jersey {{USAF-bio-stub