Don Porter spent his life dedicated to the sport of softball, helping to set up the world championships in addition to being pivotal in its inclusion to the Olympic programme. From 1963 to 1997 Porter served as the executive director of the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) where he was instrumental in launching the first-ever Softball World Championship in 1965. This overlapped with his time at the International Softball Federation (ISF) where he served as their secretary general (1965–87) and their President (1987–2013). From the late 1960s Porter campaigned for softball’s inclusion at the Olympics, with it eventually added for the 1996 Atlanta Games, remaining on the programme up to and including the 2008 Beijing Games. He was awarded with the Olympic Order in Silver in 1997.
United States