College Sports Information Directors of America

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• Past 25-Year Award Recipients

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Tom Galbraith – Simpson University, Director of Athletics

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Oliver Pierce, Former Gonzaga University Sports Information Director (Retired)

Tom Galbraith sees a daily framed reminder of his first writing experience of a budding career in sports information.
 
“I still have the first writing assignment I turned in to George 28 years ago as a graduate assistant at North Dakota State University,” Galbraith said of his first mentor, longtime NDSU SID and CoSIDA Hall of Famer, George Ellis. “It was a feature on a previous game between the Bison and South Dakota that was a page in the game day program. I believe George ran out of red ink that day marking it up. I have the original, red ink and all, framed in my office. I call it the ‘Bleeder.’ I keep it to as a reminder of humility and to always strive to be better.”
 
“George was the consummate professional and taught me to be dedicated to my craft.”
 
Galbraith, who will receive his 25-Year Award at this year’s CoSIDA convention, has worked at most intercollegiate athletic levels – NCAA Division I, DII, DIII and NAIA - over the past 25 years, and has found his niche in small college athletics.
 
 
Currently the Director of Athletics at NAIA Simpson University in Redding, Calif. — not to be confused with his alma mater of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he earned a degree in communication studies and sport administration while playing basketball and earning MVP golf team honors — the fifth-year AD enjoys what small college athletics represent.
 
“Small college athletics haven't fallen victim to big money or other outside influences, and they still function as an educational component of the mission of the institution, if done right,” he said. “There is nowhere, in my mind, that college sports meet the goals of why they were founded in the first place than at the small school level.”
 
Following that “red letter day” at NDSU where he was a graduate assistant to Ellis, Galbraith’s SID stops have included Whitworth College (now University, in Spokane, Wash.), Longwood College (now University, Farmville, Va.), Lewis & Clark College (Portland, Ore.), Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa), Alabama A&M University (Huntsville, Ala.), the Southwestern Athletic Conference (Birmingham, Ala.) and Radford University (Radford, Va.). The latter three were his NCAA DI stops. Also included in that span is a doctoral program at the University of Virginia.
 
“The sports information director's job combined two of my biggest loves, sports and writing,” Galbraith said of choosing his career path. “I have always enjoyed telling stories and being a part of the competitive nature of sports. It was a perfect marriage.”
 
CoSIDA has also been a big part of his life, and today he remains a member of CoSIDA as well as NACDA.
 
“The people of CoSIDA have meant the world to me over the years. Most of my best professional memories have come with the people from this organization. It is truly made up of remarkable and dedicated professionals, just like George taught me,” Galbraith reflected.
 
He credits CoSIDA Hall of Famer Mike Mahon with introducing him to the organization.
 
“As an undergrad I did an internship with Mike at Drake University to work the Drake Relays. He introduced me to CoSIDA, and to George, at the 1992 Lexington (Kentucky) CoSIDA Workshop.
 
“Jeff Schwartz was also a good mentor in those beginning days at NDSU. Over the years, I have gotten to know and work with some of the best this business has ever produced: Paul Allan, Oliver Pierce, Chevonne Mansfield, Charles Bloom, Bill Hamilton, Larry Happel, Debbie Copp, Wallace Dooley, Greg Prouty, Paul Morrison, Mark Adkins, Mike Gore, Dave Wrath, Tam Flarup, Darren Miller, and Ed Hill, just to name a few.
 
“And, I know I have missed some who should be on that list too,” Galbraith noted.
 
Yet it’s someone who is not in the profession he credits most with his success.
 
“Most importantly, my wife, Janelle. She's been supportive and understanding since day one,” Galbraith said of his family’s journey, which also includes daughters Elena, Olivia and Mia. “Through all the moves and long hours, she’s been the rock of our family.”
 
Galbraith also has fond memories of his time spent in HBCU’s and black college athletics at Alabama A&M and the SWAC.
 
“I've always taken great pride that I spent eight years in black college athletics and was able to mentor quite a few young professionals. I treasure the relationships I formed with my BCSIDA colleagues, as well all the others I have developed in 25 years with CoSIDA,” he stated.
 
One of Galbraith’s fondest memories and accomplishments came during his first year at Alabama A&M.
 
“When I took the job at Alabama A&M, I promised head football coach Anthony Jones I would work my hardest to make sure his high-achieving scholar-athletes received the recognition they deserved, the kind of recognition his stars on the field were already receiving. That year, the Bulldogs had their inaugural Academic All-America® selection, in any sport, and it was in football,” Galbraith recalled with pride.
 
So why the move out of sports information and into the upper echelon administrative world of director of athletics?
 
“I always felt as though I could make a more positive impact on more student-athletes by becoming a director of athletics, and I have always believed my training as an SID has helped me immensely as an AD,” he explained. “I already knew how to communicate with coaches on both good days and bad. I already knew the commitment it takes to be successful in this profession. I already knew that sometimes wins and losses aren't recorded on a scoreboard. Those are all lessons I learned as an SID long before I was an AD, and they are skills I use every day in my AD life.”
 
As the places he worked as an SID are better because of his contributions, that notion hasn’t changed now that Galbraith’s in charge of an entire athletics department.
 
Under his leadership, the Simpson athletics department established its internally operated website, created positions in sports information and marketing which are no longer held by coaches in the department, and as of June 1, 2019, all 18 varsity sports and six junior varsity programs at for the Red Hawks are now led by full-time head coaches. Facility improvements of nearly a half million dollars have been made during his brief tenure, and operating budgets have increased by 400 percent.
 
So, when Galbraith walks across the stage in Las Vegas to accept his CoSIDA 25-Year Award, he can do so with a sense of accomplishment, especially when you consider his career started “in the red.”