Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gregory A. Christopher Named Assistant V.P./Director of Athletics at BGSU
June 13, 2006 | General
June 13, 2006
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University President Dr. Sidney A. Ribeau has announced that Gregory A. Christopher, Associate Athletic Director for External Relations and John Purdue Club Director at Purdue University, has been named Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs/Director of Athletics at BGSU. He will begin his duties July 24. Christopher replaces Paul Krebs, who joined the University of New Mexico on June 1.
"Greg has an impressive vision of how an intercollegiate athletic program should operate and we welcome the Christopher family to BGSU," said Ribeau. "He has a strong administrative background and is a proven leader in finding ways to maximize resources and increase revenues and that will be critical to our program in the coming years."
Christopher, who is the 12th full-time athletic director in school history, will oversee an 18-sport program which has a budget of $14.3-million and 73 full-time employees. BGSU, which is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), is one of 13 programs in the country which sponsor Division I-A football and compete in men's and women's basketball and men's ice hockey on the Division I level.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for me and my family, and we are excited to be coming to Bowling Green," said Christopher. "I was impressed by the vision that Dr. Ribeau, Dr. (Ed) Whipple (V.P for Student Affairs), and the Board of Trustees have for athletics at BGSU. This is a place where you can be successful academically and athletically. We have a great alumni and recruiting base to work with, and I am anxious to foster new relationships with our student-athletes, coaches and staff who have made this such a well-thought of athletic program."
Christopher, a native of West Lafayette, has been at Purdue since 1997 and was a member of the department's senior staff which collaborated on all athletic, human resource and management issues. He has been in his current position since March of 2005 and was accountable for external and revenue-related areas for Purdue's $50-million department. In his role, he oversees several areas, including development, marketing, promotions and advertising, athletic licensing and sports information.
Under his leadership, Purdue raised $17.2-million in total giving for Athletics last year. He also has played a significant role in a seven-year campus-wide capital campaign which is in the final two years and is on track to raise $111 million for Athletics during that period. Projects that have come to fruition in this time frame include tripling the number of endowed athletic scholarships and several facility additions or renovations. Among the facility projects are an indoor golf training center, football stadium renovation, aquatic center, indoor tennis center, and basketball video board campaign. He also currently is the advisor for Purdue's chapter of Athletes-in-Action.
Additionally, Christopher served a period of time as the sport administrator for Purdue's men's and women's tennis programs. In addition to working with the teams during this period, he oversaw fundraising and business planning for the facility which will not only benefit the University, but will serve as a tennis club for the entire community.
He began his career on the Boilermaker staff as Assistant Director of the John Purdue Club from 1997-99 and was promoted to Director in 1999. He was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director in 2002 and was the program administrator for tennis prior to 2005.
Christopher served as Executive Director for the Society of Professional Journalists in Greencastle, Ind., from 1994 to 1997 after joining the organization in 1991 as its Marketing and Development Director. During that time, he managed a staff of 15 and a $1.6-million budget for the nation's largest not-for-profit journalism organization. His tenure focused largely on external relations, fueling growth that doubled the net worth of the foundation and association. He also improved relations with SPJ's 250 local chapters and national volunteer leaders and negotiated contracts and corporate partnerships.
Prior to joining SPJ, Christopher was an Account Executive at WWWV-FM in Charlottesville, Va., from 1988-90. In that capacity, he designed and managed station promotions, including partnerships with the athletics program at the University of Virginia. He also was part of the "Page Program" at NBC in New York in 1988 where he served as a research analyst, assisting the Manager of Sports Programming and Market Analysis in research of television sports. He also produced network sports tracking reports and surveys of major league sports.
Christopher earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Miami (Ohio) University in 1988 and earned his MBA from the institution in 1991. He played football for one season before the former linebacker's career was cut short due to injury. In 1987-88 and 1990-91, he was involved as a television color commentator in football and play-by-play voice for men's ice hockey which aired on regional cable television and WPTD-TV in Dayton. He also served as a graduate assistant in the Office of Admissions at Miami in 1990-91.
Christopher, 40, is married to the former Tina Smith of Leetonia, Ohio. The couple has a son, Zachary, 10, and two daughters, Megan and Allison, ages 8 and 6.
ALL-TIME BGSU ATHLETIC DIRECTORS
Fred Beyerman (1915-23) Warren E. Steller (1924-41) Harry Ockerman (1941-42) Harold Anderson (1942-65) Doyt L. Perry (1965-71) Robert G. Bell (4 months of 1971) Dick Young (1971-78) Jim Lessig (1978-82) Jack Gregory (1982-94) Ron Zwierlein (1994-99) Paul Krebs (1999-06) Greg Christopher (2006- )
HIGH PRAISE FOR GREG CHRISTOPHER
Morgan J. Burke, Athletic Director, Purdue University
"Greg has had the opportunity to learn all aspects of collegiate sports development and marketing during his Purdue career and has done an outstanding job in each assignment. He is ready for this challenge and will bring energy, experience and commitment to Bowling Green. As a former Mid-American Conference student-athlete, I know he welcomes the challenge of working with the Bowling Green staff to take
student-athlete academic and athletic performance to another level."
Nancy Cross, Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator, Purdue University
"How thrilling for Greg to have the opportunity to lead the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics at Bowling Green State University as its new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. It's been a genuine pleasure to work with Greg the past nine years and to witness the significant impact he has had on Boilermaker athletics. Bowling Green now is the fortunate beneficiary of his leadership, ethics and passion for intercollegiate athletics. Congratulations on an outstanding hire!"
Tom Hof, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Ohio State (1980 BGSU graduate)
"Greg Christopher is a tremendous choice for Bowling Green. He is a bright, energetic guy with a strong work ethic and engaging personality. He has deep Mid-American Conference and Midwestern roots, and will work tirelessly on behalf of the student-athletes, coaches, and fans to ensure that Bowling Green is a program of integrity, character, and excellence. Greg will build upon the success achieved under Paul Krebs, and he has all of the tools to take the program to the next level. Purdue's loss is definitely Bowling Green's gain. The Falcons have attracted one of the bright, young stars in intercollegiate athletics."
