Thursday, April 27, 2006
Bowlsby leaving Hawkeyes
Bob Bowlsby found an opportunity to head one of the most successful programs in college athletics too good to pass up.
After a three-week courtship, the 15th-year University of Iowa director of athletics was named Tuesday as the new athletics director at Stanford University, where he takes over July 1 as the head of a program that has won 50 NCAA team championships in the past 14 years.
“I look forward to the challenges and the rewards which come with the duties,’’ Bowlsby said. “Stanford is an exceptional academic institution which also supports a broad-based and very highly competitive intercollegiate athletics program.’’
Bowlsby said he wasn’t necessarily looking to make a move but considered the chance to head the Pac-10 program “an extraordinary opportunity.’’
“I’ve been to the campus a couple of times, and I’m impressed with the people I’ve met,’’ Bowlsby said. “It’s easy to get a feel for the pride of the university, and I was smitten by what I saw and felt even at that point.’’
The feeling was mutual.
Stanford provost John Etchemendy, the chair of the school’s search committee, said Bowlsby understands the proper mix of academics and athletics.
“He understands that success is not simply measured in wins and losses, but in the academic achievements and character of the young women and men who work so hard on the field and in the classroom.’’
A 54-year-old native of Waterloo, Iowa, Bowlsby will head a department that competes in 34 sports and works with a budget of $60 million.
At Iowa, he served as the head administrator of a 24-sport program with a $54 million annual budget. He was paid $366,081 at Iowa, a pay level which was negotiated after Duke expressed an interest in Bowlsby.
Bowlsby informed Iowa staff members of his move on Tuesday and it caught most, including football coach Kirk Ferentz, by surprise.
“Knowing the way Bob is respected in the business, it shouldn’t be a surprise that other institutions would be interested, but it is always a surprise when it happens,’’ Ferentz said. “All we can do is wish him the best.’’
Hired from Northern Iowa in 1991 to replace retiring Bump Elliott as the 10th director of athletics in Hawkeye history, Bowlsby headed the Iowa athletics department through a period of unprecedented growth.
He oversaw the merger of separate men’s and women’s athletics departments at Iowa into a single unit, the implementation of Title IX requirements without a reduction in the number of sports offered and hired new head coaches in 17 programs.
Bowlsby led the Iowa department through an $88 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium, finding irony that his departure will come two months before the project is completed.
“A project in which I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into will open this fall and I won’t get to move into,’’ he said.
Bowlsby also led the department through the construction of a new academic learning center, hall of fame and visitors center, soccer, field hockey, cross country and tennis facilities.
“He was the right athletics director for Iowa at the right time,’’ said Kevin Krause of Davenport, the current president of the National I-Club.
“Bob brought so much to the university in historical terms when you look at the facility improvements and the direction that the program has headed under his watch. Bob was at the forefront of the changes that college sports has gone through in the past 15 years and he leaves the program in very good shape.’’
Bowlsby is the second top administrator to announce a departure from Iowa this year. University president David Skorton announced in February that he was leaving to assume the presidency at Cornell University.
At Stanford, Bowlsby replaces Ted Leland, who left in January after 14 years to become the president of the University of Pacific.
Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com.
Bowlsby facts
Born: Jan. 10, 1952
Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa
Education: BA, Moorhead State, 1975; MA, Iowa, 1978
Family: Wife, Candace; Children, Lisa, Matt, Rachel, Kyle
Occupations: Director of facilities, University of Northern Iowa, 1981-84; Director of athletics, University of Northern Iowa, 1984-91; Director of athletics, University of Iowa, 1991-present
Committee work: NCAA executive committee member; Chair, NCAA wrestling committee, NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee and NCAA Olympic Sports Lisason Committee representing the NCAA as one of two voting members of the U.S. Olympics Committee; Executive committee of both National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and National Division I Athletic Directors Association.
Honors: Selected Central Region athletics director of the year by National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors
BOB Bowlsby BIO
Born: Jan. 10, 1952
Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa
Education: BA, Moorhead State, 1975; MA, Iowa, 1978
Family: Wife, Candace; children, Lisa, Matt, Rachel, Kyle
Occupations: Director of facilities, University of Northern Iowa, 1981-84; Director of athletics, University of Northern Iowa, 1984-91; Director of athletics, University of Iowa, 1991-present
Committee work: NCAA executive committee member; Chair, NCAA wrestling committee, NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee and NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee representing the NCAA as one of two voting members of the U.S. Olympics Committee; Executive committee of both National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and National Division I Athletic Directors Association.
Honors: Selected Central Region athletics director of the year by National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors
After a three-week courtship, the 15th-year University of Iowa director of athletics was named Tuesday as the new athletics director at Stanford University, where he takes over July 1 as the head of a program that has won 50 NCAA team championships in the past 14 years.
“I look forward to the challenges and the rewards which come with the duties,’’ Bowlsby said. “Stanford is an exceptional academic institution which also supports a broad-based and very highly competitive intercollegiate athletics program.’’
Bowlsby said he wasn’t necessarily looking to make a move but considered the chance to head the Pac-10 program “an extraordinary opportunity.’’
“I’ve been to the campus a couple of times, and I’m impressed with the people I’ve met,’’ Bowlsby said. “It’s easy to get a feel for the pride of the university, and I was smitten by what I saw and felt even at that point.’’
The feeling was mutual.
Stanford provost John Etchemendy, the chair of the school’s search committee, said Bowlsby understands the proper mix of academics and athletics.
“He understands that success is not simply measured in wins and losses, but in the academic achievements and character of the young women and men who work so hard on the field and in the classroom.’’
A 54-year-old native of Waterloo, Iowa, Bowlsby will head a department that competes in 34 sports and works with a budget of $60 million.
At Iowa, he served as the head administrator of a 24-sport program with a $54 million annual budget. He was paid $366,081 at Iowa, a pay level which was negotiated after Duke expressed an interest in Bowlsby.
Bowlsby informed Iowa staff members of his move on Tuesday and it caught most, including football coach Kirk Ferentz, by surprise.
“Knowing the way Bob is respected in the business, it shouldn’t be a surprise that other institutions would be interested, but it is always a surprise when it happens,’’ Ferentz said. “All we can do is wish him the best.’’
Hired from Northern Iowa in 1991 to replace retiring Bump Elliott as the 10th director of athletics in Hawkeye history, Bowlsby headed the Iowa athletics department through a period of unprecedented growth.
He oversaw the merger of separate men’s and women’s athletics departments at Iowa into a single unit, the implementation of Title IX requirements without a reduction in the number of sports offered and hired new head coaches in 17 programs.
Bowlsby led the Iowa department through an $88 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium, finding irony that his departure will come two months before the project is completed.
“A project in which I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into will open this fall and I won’t get to move into,’’ he said.
Bowlsby also led the department through the construction of a new academic learning center, hall of fame and visitors center, soccer, field hockey, cross country and tennis facilities.
“He was the right athletics director for Iowa at the right time,’’ said Kevin Krause of Davenport, the current president of the National I-Club.
“Bob brought so much to the university in historical terms when you look at the facility improvements and the direction that the program has headed under his watch. Bob was at the forefront of the changes that college sports has gone through in the past 15 years and he leaves the program in very good shape.’’
Bowlsby is the second top administrator to announce a departure from Iowa this year. University president David Skorton announced in February that he was leaving to assume the presidency at Cornell University.
At Stanford, Bowlsby replaces Ted Leland, who left in January after 14 years to become the president of the University of Pacific.
Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com.
Bowlsby facts
Born: Jan. 10, 1952
Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa
Education: BA, Moorhead State, 1975; MA, Iowa, 1978
Family: Wife, Candace; Children, Lisa, Matt, Rachel, Kyle
Occupations: Director of facilities, University of Northern Iowa, 1981-84; Director of athletics, University of Northern Iowa, 1984-91; Director of athletics, University of Iowa, 1991-present
Committee work: NCAA executive committee member; Chair, NCAA wrestling committee, NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee and NCAA Olympic Sports Lisason Committee representing the NCAA as one of two voting members of the U.S. Olympics Committee; Executive committee of both National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and National Division I Athletic Directors Association.
Honors: Selected Central Region athletics director of the year by National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors
BOB Bowlsby BIO
Born: Jan. 10, 1952
Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa
Education: BA, Moorhead State, 1975; MA, Iowa, 1978
Family: Wife, Candace; children, Lisa, Matt, Rachel, Kyle
Occupations: Director of facilities, University of Northern Iowa, 1981-84; Director of athletics, University of Northern Iowa, 1984-91; Director of athletics, University of Iowa, 1991-present
Committee work: NCAA executive committee member; Chair, NCAA wrestling committee, NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee and NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee representing the NCAA as one of two voting members of the U.S. Olympics Committee; Executive committee of both National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and National Division I Athletic Directors Association.
Honors: Selected Central Region athletics director of the year by National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors
# posted by Michelle @ 1:42 PM 
