Mills won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and will be on campus to mark the 50th anniversary of his Olympic win.
Mills will take part in a Q&A session at the screening of “Running Brave,” a biographical film about his life and Olympic experience, according to IU Cinema.
Robby Benson, a telecommunications professor of practice who portrayed Mills in the film, will also be present at the Q&A session.
The screening is 3 p.m. Nov. 10 and is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for the screening and can be picked up at the I U Auditorium Box Office or immediately before the screening at IU Cinema.
After the screening, a reception will take place at First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, where Mills will speak with ?stude nts and faculty.
He is also scheduled to speak during a graduate media class taught by Benson.
Benson became good friends with Mills and his wife Patricia during the filming of “Running Brave,” according to IU Cinema.
“Billy is one of the finest, most compassionate and purest-of-heart gentlemen that I have ever met,” Benson said in a press release. “I can’t wait to see him and to give him and Pat a hug. They are great people.”
Mills is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Faced with poverty, he channeled all of his energy into running and was eventually awarded a scholarship to the University of Kansas, according to IU ?Cinema.
At the 1964 Olympics, he was unknown in international track circles and shocked the world when he beat Ron Clarke from Australia and Mohammed Gammoudi of Tunisia, who were the favorites for the 10,000-meter race.
Mills remains the only American to ever win the gold medal in the 10,000-meter race.
Mills later helped found Running Strong for American Indian Youth, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the needs of American Indian communities.
Alison Graham
