Dan Doyle is the Founder and Chair of the Institute for International Sport.
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A 1972 graduate of Bates College, Doyle also served as a trustee at Bates. Doyle received received his Master's degree in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He holds honorary doctorates from Bridgewater State College and the University of Rhode Island.
Doyle was an assistant men's basketball coach at Brown University, and head men's basketball coach at both Kingswood-Oxford School in Connecticut, and at Trinity College (Connecticut). He compiled an overall coaching record of 142-45, and in his last year at Trinity, where his team ended the season ranked 13th in the country, he was named New England College Coach of the Year. Doyle's skills development basketball clinic is now in its 20th year of operation. Doyle has received numerous awards, including the Terrance Cardinal Cooke Humanitarian Award and induction into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.
Doyle's first novel Are You Watching, Adolph Rupp? (1991) was the subject of favorable reviews in over 50 publications. Author James Michener had this to say of of the novel, “Exceptional…impressive…I envy Doyle’s skill in keeping the reader’s attention.” Bud Collins of the Boston Globe called it “a standout novel.” A WHDH (Boston Radio) review called it: “The finest sports fiction in more than 20 years.” And Bill Reel of the New York Daily News said: “This novel evinces the same kind of authenticity as Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities. I loved it!”
Doyle’s second book The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting was published in 2008. A group of academicians, physicians and athletic administrators entered the book into nomination for a Pulitzer Prize. The book received the ForeWord Book Award and the Independent Publisher’s “Living Now” Book Award. General Colin Powell said of the book, “The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is an extraordinary contribution to the field of sports and education. I was particularly taken by the leadership principles espoused by Dan Doyle. It is clear to me that Dan and I share similar views with respect to leadership.” Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated wrote, “As sensitive as it is comprehensive…any father or mother of with child athlete can find both wisdom and guidance in Dan Doyle’s book… down-to-earth practical advice from someone who understands the territory so very well.” Senator George Mitchell stated, “Remarkable...a great service to society.” Tom Condon of the Hartford Courant wrote, “This book contains more wisdom about parenting, not just sports parenting, than I've ever seen in one place.”
Doyle’s next book, An African Rebound, will be published in 2012. Doyle is also writing The Master Coach Manual, as well as Volume II of The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting.
Doyle has been the principle speaker at over 450 functions, including major addresses at a White House conference on ethics, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick's dinner in Scranton, PA (where past speakers have included two U.S. Presidents, two Irish Prime Ministers and many U.S. Senators), and the keynote speaker at over 125 American colleges and universities, delivered on behalf of the NCAA Foundation.
Doyle founded the Institute for International Sport (www.internationalsport.org) in 1986 after writing a paper at the Fletcher School regarding the creation of such an Institute. Among the programs Doyle has conceived are:
• National Sportsmanship Day - The annual program is widely regarded by educators as the largest sportsmanship initiative in the world. On March 1, 2011, National Sportsmanship Day celebrated its 20th Anniversary. USA Today sponsors an annual National Sportsmanship Day Essay Contest.
• Scholar-Athlete Games - The concept of the Scholar-Athlete Games is based upon the best of the Olympic ideal - the belief that sport and the arts can be forces for understanding and friendship among athletes and among nations. At the Scholar-Athlete Games, there are no national teams. A basketball team might be made up of twelve players from twelve countries; the choir may include students from sixteen countries, and so on. The Scholar-Athlete Games welcomes as many scholar-artists as scholar-athletes. The program invites high achieving athletes and artists to come together over approximately one week to not only participate in their area of specialty but also to engage in conversation about subjects that are applicable to any country. It is during this series of workshops that participants develop initiatives for social entrepreneurship in their local communities. The 2011 program was the sixth of its kind on a world scale. Other Scholar-Athlete Games have taken place in Australia, Israel, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
The concept has drawn international acclaim. President Bill Clinton stated, "Extraordinary! I wish there had been a World Scholar-Athlete Games in my youth." The 2006 World Scholar-Athlete Games welcomed delegations from 157 countries and all 50 states - making it the largest sport/cultural event in the world in 2006 in terms of countries represented.
Along with President Clinton, other speakers have included General Colin Powell, Senator George Mitchell, Senator Bill Bradley, Sir Roger Bannister, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The full list of past speakers can be found on the Institute for International Sport website.
• Irish-American Sports Foundation - this all-volunteer organization has raised over $4 million to construct the Irish National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
• New England Basketball Hall of Fame - classes are inducted every three years. At its most recent ceremony, it attracted a sell-out crowd of over 1,600 people. The next New England Basketball Hall of Fame class will be inducted in October 2012.
• International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame - located on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, the building was a result of Doyle negotiating a $1 million lead gift for the construction of the building.
• Hall of Fame Press - Doyle's interest in literature has led to the creation of this Institute initiative, which publishes sports themed books such as "Dirty Water", a Red Sox mystery written by Mary Ann Tirone-Smith.
• World Youth Peace Summit - The inaugural World Youth Peace Summit was held in 2011 in conjunction with the World Scholar-Athlete Games at the University of Hartford (Connecticut). Past graduates of the Scholar-Athlete Games, as well as others nominated by such organizations as the United Nations were invited to attend. The Summit's mission is to develop current and former scholar-athletes/artists from around the world into successful peace advocates. By providing the opportunity to study peace policies through four days of lectures and workshops, the Summit furnishes participants with practical knowledge of how to develop and implement their own peace initiatives successfully in their home communities. These community leaders of all ages will create a grassroots global network of peace advocates and foster a more peaceful world. The next World Youth Peace Summit is scheduled for 2016. (www.youthpeacesummit.org)
• Office of Peace Projects - An important outcome of the 2011 World Youth Peace Summit was the launch of the Office of Peace Projects by General Colin Powell. This permanent center has four primary goals: - to assist 2011 WYPS participants implement their Pathways to Peace initiatives; - to plan the 2016 WYPS and subsequent Summits which will be held at five-year intervals; - to conduct empirical research with regard to the efficacy of Pathways to Peace initiatives; and - to award grants to exceptional Pathways to Peace initiatives.
The Office will support the implementation of the thousands of Pathways to Peace initiatives that result from the Summit. It will provide administrative direction, information, and opportunities to network with other organizations and people who might be helpful in advancing their efforts. Project implementation may connect to existing service projects or new efforts.
The Office will become an international center of world peace, providing financial support to innumerable worthy projects. By hosting peace conferences, lectures, and other gatherings, as well as by reaching out to organizations that have connections beyond the state and nation boundaries, the Office will attract visitors to New England from around the world, thereby associating the region as with being a catalyst for world peace.
On July 3, 2011, General Powell presided at the opening ceremony of the Office of Peace Projects. General Powell stated, “This project has historic implications. Dan Doyle is one of the greatest men I have ever worked with.”