Bowling Green State University Athletics
Charles Simpson: 2007 BGSU Hall of Fame Inductee
September 12, 2007 | Gymnastics
Sept. 12, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame welcomes seven new members on the weekend of Sept. 21-22. The 2007 class will be inducted during a formal dinner on the BGSU campus.
The Class of 2007 includes Antonio Daniels '97 (men's basketball), Wade Diefenthaler '59 (baseball), Talita (Scott) Braddix '94 (women's basketball), Charles Simpson (gymnastics coach), Tom Stubbs '49 (swimming and diving), Paul Talkington '69 (men's cross country and track) and Bernard White (football).
The official induction ceremony will take place Friday, Sept. 21, in the grand ballroom of BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m., with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition to the induction ceremony, the class will be introduced at halftime of the Sept. 22 BGSU-Temple football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at noon and is designated at Hall of Fame Day.
Tickets for the Sept. 21 dinner are $35 ($30 for Varsity BG members), and advanced reservations are required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Falcon Club office at (419) 372-7100. Football game tickets can be purchased through the ticket office by phone, at 1-877-BGSUTICKET, or on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.
The public is invited to attend the induction dinner.
The following is the fourth of a seven-part series that takes a brief look at this year's inductees...
Charles Simpson (Gymnastics Coach, 1974-1997)
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After graduating from Hickman (Mo.) High School, Simpson enrolled at the University of Missouri where he played baseball. After one year, he transferred to Southwest Missouri State and played defensive back and halfback on the football team. He earned his degree in education in 1963. While attending SMSU, Simpson formed a gymnastics club which eventually led to the start of his coaching career. He served two years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army Infantry. In 1965, he returned to the University of Missouri as a graduate assistant and gymnastics teacher and sponsor for the men's club team. While at UM, Simpson earned his master's degree in education.
In 1966, he began teaching gymnastics at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, forming a women's gymnastics club team there. He became the head women's club gymnastics coach at Indiana University in 1970 while working on his doctorate in physical education, which he received four years later. His 1974 team at IU finished the season with a perfect 6-0 record. In 1974, Simpson took over the head coaching position at BGSU, and produced competitive teams throughout his tenure. The Falcons had a string of 11 consecutive winning campaigns from 1974-84. In 1979-80, the Brown and Orange reached the pinnacle, putting together a nearly perfect season with an 11-0-1 record.
His teams made a total of six NCAA regional appearances, including four in a row from 1984-87, and one individual NCAA Championships appearance in the all-around. Simpson led the Falcons to an average of seven dual wins per season during his tenure, and his teams won 10 or more meets five times, including a three-year run (1977-78 to 1979-80) in which BGSU had a combined dual-meet record of 41-3-1.
During his Falcon coaching career, Simpson was also an Assistant Professor in the School of HMSLS. He and his wife, Susan, reside in Bowling Green. The couple has two grown sons, David and Craig (recently deceased) and seven grandchildren.
The 2007 class of inductees, the 44th class in history, brings membership in the Athletic Hall of Fame to 206. The 1983-84 national championship hockey team is also in the Hall of Fame.
