Bill Dwyer

Sportswriters in the Southwest dubbed Bill Dwyer the “Desert Werewolf,” a 5-foot-11, 183-pound halfback from Sullivan, Ill., “who swept across the plains like a flashing, whirling New Mexico tornado – an elusive, rugged gray ghost with the power of a tractor.”

He was a star on the Lobos’ 1939 Sun Bowl team and “one of the nation’s finest running backs,” gaining 718 rushing yards, scoring 11 touchdowns and punting for a 46-yard average. Dwyer, who also lettered in boxing and track and field, was UNM’s first NFL product, signing with the Chicago Cardinals. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1939 and master’s in 1942.

After induction into the Army in World War II, Dwyer wound up in Washington, D.C., with the State Department in 1944. That appointment started a diversified 43-year caree with the United States government: U.S. Foreign Service Officer in Japan and China for General Douglas MacArthur and General George C. Marshall; a diplomat in several U.S. embassies; director of field operations for the Department of Commerce; President John F. Kennedy’s appointee to the U.S. National Export Council.

Dwyer officially retired from government service in 1987 to live in Albuquerque.