Bob Bowlsby (2004) - Hall of Fame

Bob Bowlsby

Induction:
2004

Bob Bowlsby received an honor in a ceremony in which he initiated. While serving as UNI's Director of Athletics from 1983-1991, he formulated this Athletics Hall of Fame program, the first class of which was inducted in 1985.

A native of Waterloo, he became the University of Iowa's 10th men's athletic director in June of 1991. He directed the merger of the Hawkeye men's and women's athletic programs into a single unit in 2000 supervising 24 sports. In addition, he oversaw the planning, construction and renovation of more than $100 million in campus projects, including the refurbishing of Kinnick Stadium. In 2006, he became director of athletics at Stanford University.

He earned the reputation as one of the nation's most respected, energetic and ambitious athletic administrators. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) named him Central Region Athletic Director of the Year and Sports Business Journal selected him from the four regional award winners as the National Athletics Director of the Year in 2001-02. He was appointed to the 15-member United States Commission on Opportunities in Athletics by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in 2002-03.

He also served as President of the Division I-A Athletic Directors' Association from 2002-03 and in 2005 he finished a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament Committee. He served as the chairman in 2003-04.

Additional professional experiences include serving as an ex officio member of the NCAA Executive Committee; and chairing the NCAA Wrestling Committee, the NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee and the Big Ten Championships and Awards Committee. He is a member of the NACDA Executive Committee and the I-A Athletics Directors' Association Executive Committee.

Bowlsby earned his Bachelor's of Science degree from Moorhead State in 1975 and his Master of Arts from Iowa in 1978. He was Assistant Director of Recreational Services at Iowa from 1978-81 and was named UNI's Assistant Director of Athletics for Facilities from 1981-83. He then replaced Stan Sheriff as the Panthers' athletics director, directing UNI's 19-sport program and serving as administrative head of the UNI-Dome. He managed UNI's entry into the Missouri Valley Conference and increased the program's fundraising by 400 percent.