After 20 years as the head of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point athletic department, Director of Athletics Frank O'Brien announced Sunday (October 24) that he will be retiring effective January 2011. O'Brien is the longest tenured Athletic Director in the history of Pointer athletics.
Currently the longest-serving Director of Athletics in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), O'Brien has been at the forefront of one of the nation's most successful NCAA Division III programs.
“Frank's leadership has embodied the Pointer commitment to put our students first,” said UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Bernie L. Patterson. “Our program has matured to national prominence during Frank's tenure. We'll continue to connect our future winning seasons and championships to his legacy, but above all else we'll associate our student-athletes' successful lives with the culture of excellence Frank and his staff have built at UWSP.”
O'Brien began his affiliation with UW-Stevens Point 1980 as a Residence Hall Director, Student Activities Advisor and Assistant Director of Residence Life. He then transitioned into serving as the strength and conditioning coach for the UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team before becoming the athletic department's Business Manager and Associate Director of Athletics. O'Brien assumed his duties as Director of Athletics in 1991.
“Frank has been a positive force in athletics for over 20 years,” said Marty Loy, former head wrestling coach and now Dean of the College of Professional Studies. “I can't think of a major athletic event over the past 20 years that Frank O'Brien has not been at, home or away. Frank is a coaches coach, a hard worker, full of integrity and someone who cares about his coaches and our student-athletes. Frank will be missed by our UWSP community, our alum and area business people, all of whom he has established relationships with on behalf of Pointer Athletics.”
O'Brien served as commissioner of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) for six years and was instrumental in the development of women's hockey as a varsity sport in the NCAA. The NCHA women's playoff trophy was named the O'Brien Cup in 2006 in his honor. He was a member of the NCAA championships committee for the inaugural Division I women's ice hockey championship in 2001, serving as the West Region chair, and he served as chair of three of the first four NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey championships committees from 2002-05. O'Brien also served four years on the national committee for Division II-III men's hockey from 1994-98, chairing that committee in 1998. He has also been a member of the NCAA Divisions I, II, and III Wrestling championships committees the past three years.
In 1999, O'Brien received national recognition by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics when he was one of four individuals in Division III who received the associations Athletic Director of the Year award. O'Brien has also received UWSP's Academic Staff Excellence Award and the HPERA Service Award.
Under O'Brien's tenure, UW-Stevens Point has posted 13 straight top-25 finishes in the United States Sports Academy Director's Cup standings, which measure the nation's top athletics program, with 6 top ten finishes in the 15 year history of the Director's Cup. The Pointers have been the top WIAC finisher in 7 of the fifteen years.
In his 20 years at the helm, the Pointers have won 78 WIAC conference championships. The Pointers have also had tremendous success on the national level, as 15 of the 20 athletic teams at UW-Stevens Point have made Final Four appearances since O'Brien assumed his duties.
In addition to his work with UWSP Athletics, O'Brien has also been an integral part of the Stevens Point community. He has served on the board of directors for Wisconsin Special Olympics, Stevens Point Youth Softball Association, Kiwanis Club, the Central Wisconsin Sports Commission and the Community Parks Improvement Committee. He also served as the UWSP Training Camp Coordinator for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars inaugural training camp.
“It has been a great pleasure to serve as Director of Athletics at UW-Stevens Point,” O'Brien said. “I will always remember the relationships I have developed over my 20 years here with student-athletes, coaches, colleagues, and members of the community. It has been my honor and privilege to serve as their athletics director.”
A Bedford, Mass. native, O'Brien received a Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree in Psychology from James Madison University and an M.B.A. from UW-Oshkosh. He and his wife, Renee, have two daughters, Megan and Hannah.
“Though I have only worked directly with Frank for the last two years, I have seen him at work for the past 18 years,” Rory Suomi, Chair of the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Athletics (HESA) said. “UWSP will be trying to replace a legend. He was a tireless worker, and a coaches Athletic Director. He always seemed to be at every athletic event and when something needed to be done he simply always got it done.”
Suomi will serve as the interim Director of Athletics while a national search is conducted.
