Note: For those wishing to honor Mr. Wopsock’s support of the Ute Indian Tribe and the University of Utah, you may contribute to the Ron Wopsock American Indian Leadership Scholarship here.
Ronald Wopsock loved the Ute Indian Tribe, athletics and the opportunities education provides. He dedicated his life to building connected foundations for all three.
It is with sadness, but great gratitude, that the University of Utah notes the passing of Wopsock, who was 72, on April 8. A member of the Uintah Band, longtime leader of the Ute Indian Tribe and member of its business committee, Wopsock dedicated his life to creating and bolstering athletics opportunities for the tribe’s youth and strengthening the tribe’s relationship with the University of Utah.
“Without Ron Wopsock, the University of Utah’s decades-long collaboration and partnership with the Ute Indian Tribe would not be what it is today,” said President Taylor Randall. “Committee Member Wopsock nurtured, negotiated and reinforced what has become a primary understanding between the institution and an essential member of the state community around us.”
One of 10 children, Wopsock grew up in Ft. Duchesne before studying and playing basketball from eighth to 12th grade at the Stewart Indian School in Carson City, Nevada. He hoped to continue playing basketball at college or professionally, but had to defer that dream when he was drafted into military service. When he returned home, Wopsock worked in the Ute Indian Tribe’s recreation department for 23 years, planning parks, gymnasiums and other athletic facilities.
In 1993, Wopsock was elected to the Ute Tribal Council, now the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, serving on and off as the Uintah Band representative for more than two decades. While on the business committee, Wopsock helped lead the tribe’s association with the university, serving as the first tribal liaison under an inaugural memorandum of understanding signed in 1995. The most current MOU has been extended through 2026.
Throughout the years, Wopsock remained passionately dedicated to advocating for the youth of his tribe, shoring up athletic and academic opportunities, including the agreement with the U. Athletics, he believed, could be a conduit to education.
“I always greatly enjoyed the interactions I had with Ron, and the sense of pride and partnership he showed in the Ute Indian Tribe’s involvement with our athletics programs,” said Mark Harlan, director of Athletics. “He carried a strong belief that athletics was a path and a conduit for the Tribe to the university and higher education, and we are truly grateful for that. This is a tremendous loss for our university, and certainly for the Ute Indian Tribe.”
Fiesty and proud, Wopsock was, in many ways, the keeper of the agreement with the university, said Lori McDonald, vice president for student affairs. He fiercely guarded the Ute Indian Tribe’s rights, but also saw the university as an important partner.
In 2023, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at that year’s Native Excellence Gala for making a significant impact on the advancement of the Indigenous community at the local, state and national level. The U also has a scholarship named after Wopsock—the American Indian Leadership Scholarship, which is awarded to members of the Ute Indian Tribe who want to pursue leadership opportunities outside of the classroom.
“Ron was a visionary, a true leader,” McDonald said. “He believed allowing the university’s athletics teams to use the Ute name would be a way to uplift the tribe and have the Ute name known nationally and internationally. He saw a line from athletics to education to economic development. Throughout it all, his love for the Ute Tribe and its youth was always on his mind.”
“His legacy lives on in the strong, continuing relationship that connects the university and the tribe,” she added. “He will be dearly missed.”