Gene Smith, the Ohio State University Buckeyes’ athletic director or AD is his title. For a college that is one of only four to win national championships in both baseball and football men’s, Mr. Smith manages an array of sports, including women’s.
Gene Smith was officially appointed to the coveted position of Ohio State athletic director on March 5, 2005. Gene Smith gained relevant experience as an athletic director for Eastern Michigan, Iowa State and Arizona State before he was appointed to the position of head of one the nation’s most successful college sports programs.
Although many people think only of basketball and football when thinking about college athletics, the range of varsity sports can be quite varied. Smith supervises around 900 students athletes across 39 varsity sports (19 women and 19 men). Many sports, such as synchronized swimming and gymnastics, have been won by the Buckeyes, which are sometimes forgotten, including fencing, gymnastics, synchronized swimming, and gymnastics.
Gene Smith, the Ohio State University’s athletic director, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, not far from Columbus. Smith excelled at athletics in his youth at St. Peter Chanel, Ohio’s high school. He then went to Indiana’s University of Notre Dame as a defensive lineman for the football team.
Gene played on the national championship football team in 1973 before he graduated from Notre Dame. Gene earned a diploma in business administration, and continued to work as an assistant coach for the football team at Notre Dame until 1981.
Gene Smith attempted a career break outside college athletics by accepting a job at International Business Machines Marketing (IBM) in 1981. Smith found his true calling in collegiate sports after spending two years working for the private sector.
The Ohio native was offered a job at Eastern Michigan University in 1983, where he served as the assistant athletic director. Gene assumed the role of Eastern Michigan’s head athletic administrator in 1986. Gene was appointed the AD of Iowa State University in 1993. He continued his duties until 2000, when he relocated to Tempe, Arizona.