Hall of Fame
In 1979 Andy Kreutzer with his wife, Barbara, and their daughters, Kirsten and Laura, moved from Northern Virginia, where Andy had spent seven years in the mortgage finance industry, to Athens, Ohio and began graduate education in Sports Administration.
In 1983, they moved to Mankato State University, where he served as the Director of Athletic Management and Finance. The following year, Andy accepted the Position of Director of Athletics and Sports Administration at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. In 1986, he moved completely into the academic role, and during this time, was principally involved with the academic restructuring of St. Thomas University. As part of the reorganization, Sports Administration was joined with Business and Economics, and Tourism Management. As a result,
Andy assumed the role of Division Director for Business, Economics, Sports, and Tourism (BEST). As he has said, “I was fortunate to have worked at a values-based University and at a time when the sports industries were enjoying unprecedented growth”.
In 1995 the Kreutzers moved back to Athens, Ohio where Andy became the Coordinator for the Ohio University graduate Sports Administration Program. Subsequently, the undergraduate program was combined with the graduate program, creating the Department of Sports Administration. As he had at St. Thomas, Andy again worked with the University administration to reposition the Department of Sports Administration within the College of Business and led the restructuring of the graduate MSA program into a dual-degree format, where students earn both an MBA and MSA. In 2014, after serving for 18 years as a Program Coordinator, Department Chair, and Associate Professor, Dr. Kreutzer retired.
As he noted in his retirement presentation at Ohio University, “In August, 1979 Barbara and I moved with our two daughters, Kirsten and Laura, from Virginia to Athens, Ohio and began a 34-year adventure in Sports Administration. That family decision turned into the most rewarding and fulfilling time of our lives. This journey to Athens; to Mankato, MN; to Miami, FL; and back to Athens has included professional and personal experiences that have exceeded our greatest expectations, but most important have been the life-long friendships that Barbara and I have been so fortunate to make.”
