| Dean Ehlers | |
| Birth Date: | 22 June 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Campbell Hill, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Basketball |
| Player Years2: | c. 1950 |
| Player Team2: | Central Methodist |
| Player Sport3: | Baseball |
| Player Years4: | c. 1950 |
| Player Team4: | Central Methodist |
| Player Years5: | 1948 |
| Player Team5: | Geneva Robins |
| Player Years6: | 1949 |
| Player Team6: | Ponca City Dodgers |
| Player Years7: | 1950 |
| Player Team7: | Asheville Tourists |
| Player Years8: | 1951 |
| Player Team8: | Elmira Pioneers |
| Player Years9: | 1954 |
| Player Team9: | Elmira Pioneers |
| Player Years10: | 1955 |
| Player Team10: | Pueblo Dodgers |
| Player Positions: | Catcher (baseball) |
| Coach Sport1: | Basketball |
| Coach Years2: | 1956–1962 |
| Coach Team2: | Memphis State (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 1962–1966 |
| Coach Team3: | Memphis State |
| Coach Years4: | 1971–1972 |
| Coach Team4: | James Madison |
| Coach Sport5: | Baseball |
| Coach Years6: | 1958–1961 |
| Coach Team6: | Memphis State |
| Admin Years1: | 1971–1993 |
| Admin Team1: | James Madison |
| Overall Record: | 69–54 (baseball) 39–39 (baseball) |
Omer Dean Ehlers (June 22, 1929 – February 19, 2017) was an American college basketball and baseball coach and athletic administrator. He was the first athletic director for James Madison University and served for 22 years.
Ehlers played basketball and baseball as a student at Central Methodist University. He spent time playing baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization and in the U.S. Army before embarking on his coaching career, starting as head baseball coach and assistant basketball coach at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis).[1] Ehlers then moved to James Madison, as the school's first athletic director while the school made the transition from a women's college to a co-ed institution. He coached the school's basketball team for a year, before hiring Lou Campanelli, who led the Dukes to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1981. Ehlers was instrumental in founding the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 and was the namesake for the Ehlers Award, granted by the conference to the men's and women's basketball players who “embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic athletic achievement.”[2]
Ehlers retired in 1993. He died on February 19, 2017, at age 87.