Geiger Earns National Football Foundation Award – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
May 12, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Andy Geiger, director of athletics at the Ohio State University, has been named a co-recipient of the 2003 John L. Toner Award, Jon F. Hanson, National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc., chairman, announced May 8.
Geiger earned the honor along with posthumous honoree John Clune of the United States Air Force Academy. The Toner Award is presented annually to a collegiate athletics director who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics, primarily college football.
Geiger is in his ninth year as the director of athletics at Ohio State, where he oversees a department that encompasses 36 intercollegiate varsity sports and over 900 student-athletes. During his tenure, Geiger has initiated the construction of several state-of-the-art facilities, including the multi-purpose Jerome Schottenstein Center and Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, as well as Bill Davis Baseball Stadium. Additionally, a $187 million renovation project recently was completed on the football program’s historic Ohio Stadium. He also has coordinated the introduction of three varsity programs – women’s rowing, lacrosse and ice hockey – into the Ohio State Athletics Department, which has an annual operating budget of more than $79 million.
Geiger’s career in athletics spans more than three decades with stints at Brown, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Maryland and Ohio State.
Away from athletics, Geiger, a fan of jazz music, is active in the Columbus community. He is a member of the Columbus Jazz-Arts Board and also plays host on a two-hour weekly radio show called “Classic Jazz Masters.” He also serves on the board of directors of Easter Seals and the YMCA.
The Toner Award will be presented at the NFF’s Annual Awards Luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City Dec. 9.
Clune, Geiger’s co-recipient, was the former president of the National Association of Athletic Directors and served as the director of athletics at the Air Force Academy for 16 years. Clune passed away of cancer in 1992. The 46th annual awards dinner, where the 2003 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted and about 15 National Scholar-Athletes will be presented with over $300,000 in scholarships, will follow the luncheon.
