Author: Gordon
Wayne Woodworth
Email: Gordon.Woodworth@uvm.edu
Phone: (802)656-1110 Fax: 802-656-3203
BURLINGTON,
Vt. –
Bob Corran, an experienced administrator with an extensive athletic background,
is the new Director of Athletics at the University of Vermont. President Daniel
Mark Fogel made the announcement today.
Corran, 53,
is currently the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of
Minnesota-Duluth (UMD). In his six years at UMD, he has overseen an athletic
program which includes 16 varsity sports, 500 student-athletes and a $5.1
million operating budget. His accomplishments at UMD include the development
and implementation of a strategic plan; planning and implementing a women’s
hockey program that has since won three consecutive NCAA Division I titles; a
major restructuring and restaffing of the department; reorganization of
athletic marketing and promotions activities; a four-fold increase in alumni
donations and the planning and design of a campus sports and fitness center.
During his tenure, the Bulldogs have won 58 conference championships, including
11 this year, along with the three NCAA titles in women’s hockey.
“We are
thrilled that Bob Corran has agreed to become our new Director of Athletics,”
President Fogel said. “His vision for the department and his proven ability as
an innovative educator and leader in athletics will no doubt propel our
athletic department to new heights.”
Corran is
excited about his new position at Vermont.
“It is truly
an honor and privilege to have this opportunity to serve the University of
Vermont,” he said. “There is work to be done and challenges to be met but I am
excited to get on with the task at hand knowing I will be among so many fine
people of character and commitment. This is a very special place with a very
bright future and I am thrilled to be part of it."
Corran went
to UMD after a 12-year stint as Director of Athletics at the University of
Calgary. During his tenure at Calgary, Corran served as President of the Canada
West Universities Athletic Association for three years and was President of the
Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union, the Canadian equivalent of the NCAA,
from 1990 to 1992.
A former
three-sport athlete (hockey, football and lacrosse) at Ithaca College, Corran
earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Ithaca in 1971
and went on to attain a Master’s degree in Education Administration from
Springfield College in 1978 and a Ph.D. from Ohio State in 1979. While at Ohio
State, he served as an assistant coach for men’s ice hockey and taught
undergraduate activity and professional theory courses.
Before
earning his graduate degrees, Corran was a teacher and coach at MacKenzie
Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Immediately after earning his Ph.D. from Ohio
State, Corran was an assistant professor, head coach of men’s ice hockey and
assistant football coach at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. He
later became the Assistant Dean for Sport and Recreation Services, a post he
held from 1981 to 1985. He left Windsor to become the Director of Athletics at
the University of Calgary in Alberta. While at Calgary, the school won 53
conference titles and 23 national championships, and Corran taught graduate and
undergraduate courses in sport management with a focus on strategic planning
and leadership.
In 1995-96,
Corran took a fellowship leave from the University of Calgary to serve as a
Visiting International Scholar at the University of California, where he led
the Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports through a strategic
planning initiative which included establishing a planning process and
timelines; developing a departmental vision and accompanying mission statement;
formulating strategic priorities for the department and establishing specific
management goals, objectives and activities.
Corran has
also taught graduate courses in sport management in Equador and Venezuela.
Born in
Northern Ireland and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, he and his wife, Libby, have
two sons – Patrick, 23, and Andrew, 20.
Corran is the
eighth director of athletics in the modern era of Vermont Athletics and the
third since 1973. He succeeds Rick Farnham ’69, who completes more than 30
years of service to his alma mater on June 30, 2003. Farnham has served as
director of athletics for 11 years, and before that served the University as an
assistant athletic director and coach. Denis Lambert ’54 served as director of
athletics from 1973 to 1992.