Humenik Named CoSIDA's First Executive Director
CoSIDA Hall of Fame Member to lead 2,300 member organization
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – John Humenik, a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame, has been selected as the 2,300-member organization’s first Executive Director, it was announced Friday.
Humenik entered the sports information profession in 1976 as an assistant SID at Princeton University, where he served for less than a year before being promoted to SID at the Ivy League school.
He led the Tiger sports information office for three years before moving to the University of Michigan, where he was Director of Sports Information from 1980 to 1982. He moved to the University of Florida, where he was SID/Assistant Athletics Director from 1982-2002.
“I am most blessed and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve as the first-ever Executive Director for the College Sports Information Directors of America,” said Humenik. “I truly appreciate the trust bestowed upon me by the organization’s Board of Directors and leadership and I feel very honored and humbled to represent a professional membership and organization that ranks, in my opinion, as arguably the most noble, industrious and dedicated in all of collegiate sports management.”
As the CoSIDA Executive Director, Humenik will serve as the organization’s full-time senior administrator for the organization, working closely with its Board of Directors and staff in handling the day-to-day operations and the development of short- and long-term planning and initiatives for CoSIDA.
“Throughout our search process, John Humenik’s name kept coming up as the best person to lead our organization,” said Charles Bloom, Associate Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and 2007-08 CoSIDA President. “John has the skill, passion and understanding of the organization and its members to build a bright future the organization.”
Humenik was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the organization’s Arch Ward Award, presented annually to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of sports information, in 1994. In both cases, he was then the youngest person in organization history to be so honored.
He received the 1994 Lester Jordan Award, which is presented annually by CoSIDA to the outstanding contributor to its Academic All-America program. He was also given the Dick Enberg Award in 1998, which is awarded to a person who has provided exceptional leadership in promoting the joint values of education and athletics. Dean Smith, Pat Summitt, Tom Osborne, former President Gerald Ford, Dick Enberg and Notre Dame's Father Theodore Hesberg are among the list of others who have received that award over the last decade.
Humenik was chair of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee from 1979-88. During that time, the Academic All-America program secured its first national corporate sponsorship (GTE/Verizon) and grew from four to eight teams. The program is now sponsored by ESPN The Magazine. The Academic All-America Hall of Fame was also established during that time.
In May, 2000, he became an honorary inductee into Florida Blue Key, the University of Florida’s most prestigious leadership honorary within the state of Florida.
“This organization and profession has provided me with so many wonderful experiences, challenges and friendships throughout my professional career and it is a truly a great honor to now be placed into a position that I can pay it back as a dedicated career servant,” added Humenik. I’m excited in so many ways to work with the organization’s leadership to tackle the opportunities and challenges that are before us.”
Humenik will begin his duties as CoSIDA’s first full-time executive director on March 1, 2008. Since August of 2002 he has served as an Acquisitions Editor for Sports Publishing L.L.C., the nation's largest publisher for sports-related books.