Greg Christopher Position: Asst. V.P./Director of Athletics

Greg Christopher, who previously was Associate Athletic Director for External Relations and John Purdue Club Director at Purdue University, was named Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs/Director of Athletics at BGSU on June 13.

"Greg has an impressive vision of how an intercollegiate athletic program should operate and we welcome the Christopher family to BGSU," said BGSU President Dr. Sidney A. 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, oversees 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.

He 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.