Oregon State athletic director and Georgia Tech grad Todd Stansbury was introduced Thursday morning as Tech's ninth athletic director. The hire was first reported by the AJC earlier Thursday.
"I believe this is one of those rare golden moments in life where opportunity meets ambition," Tech president G.P. "Bud" Peterson said.
Stansbury has been at Oregon State since August 2015 (he was hired in June of that year) after holding the same position for three years at Central Florida. Stansbury is the first Tech graduate to fill the chair since William Alexander, who was the school’s second athletic director following John Heisman and served in that position from 1920 to 1950. He played football for the Yellow Jackets under coach Bill Curry.
“I’ve tried to bring the Tech way every place I’ve been,” he said.
While a 30-year tenure would be highly unlikely for Stansbury, his standing as a Tech grad may comfort some Yellow Jackets followers who have seen the past two AD’s, Dan Radakovich and Mike Bobinski, leave after holding the job for six and three years.
In his remarks, Stansbury made clear what the opportunity to return to his alma mater meant to him. He described the job as his dream. He thanked former athletic director Homer Rice, Curry and professors for their investment in him.
"This place has had a profound impact on my life," he said. "It changed my life."
The search process moved fairly quickly, completing itself about six weeks after the search committee was formed Aug. 11 following Bobinski’s departure for Purdue. By comparison, the search process that resulted in Bobinski’s hire lasted a little over two months. At the time he called the search committee, Peterson said he hoped that a new AD would be on the job in four months. Peterson said Thursday that he expects that Stansbury will begin in late December or early January.
A native of Oakville, Ont., outside of Toronto, Stansbury played football at Tech for Curry in the early 1980’s and graduated in 1984 with a degree in industrial management. His first job in athletic administration was at Tech, as an academic adviser for the football team. He worked at Tech from 1988 to 1994, rising to assistant athletic director.
