George Dickerman, former president of Spalding Sports Worldwide, passed away at the age of 83.
Dickerman started his career at American Can, the Singer Corporation and the Whittaker Corporation. In 1976, he joined Spalding Sports, serving as president where he led the company through unprecedented growth, tripling its overall size and helping it achieve an all-time high market share in its industry. He outlasted repeated ownership shake-ups before retiring in November 2000.
Spalding became a division of the Russell Corporation in 2003. The deal did not include Spalding’s golf operations, which included the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata brands that were acquired by Callaway Golf.
Dickerman served as chairman of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), formerly the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA); a director of the Tennis Industry Foundation, and was among the founding board members of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts when it was created in 1996. He was also a trustee on the board of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
