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Former NCAA membership president Fuzak dies at 93
The NCAA News
John A. “Jack” Fuzak, longtime Michigan State University faculty athletics representative and former NCAA membership president, died June 2 at the age of 93.
Fuzak, a faculty member at Michigan State from 1948-79. was president of the NCAA in 1975 and 1976. He is the only membership president to preside over four NCAA Conventions, chairing two “special” Conventions in August 1975 and January 1976 in addition to the regular sessions those years.
Economic issues prompted the two special Conventions. At the first, Fuzak asked delegates to set aside special interests and focus on measures to cut costs. Limitations on coaching staffs, traveling squads and off-campus visits to prospects, and reductions in the number of grants-in-aid allowed were among the key items delegates adopted. There were so many proposals, in fact (73 original and 103 amendments-to-amendments), that another special Convention had to be called just before the 1976 annual Convention in order for delegates to complete their business.
In an interview with The NCAA News in 1992, Fuzak said present-day financial issues were the same that gave delegates fits two decades earlier. “There are always attempts to reduce some of these things (squad size, coaching staffs, official visits), and there always is a negative reaction to that from coaches,” he said. “They say, ‘Well, that kills our Olympic prospects if you restrict the length of practice.’ It was a case of ‘Don’t gore my ox.’”
The onset of the NCAA sponsoring women’s sports also was a volatile issue in Fuzak’s time. The NCAA was getting pressure to provide championships for women, but the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women did not want NCAA intervention.
“We were trying hard to work cooperatively,” Fuzak said in 1992. “I became convinced that we had no alternative but to move in the direction of providing women’s championships. Of course, I felt that it would be to the benefit of women to have the support and financing of the NCAA. I think it was inevitable to have one organization — one structure for both men’s and women’s athletics.”
Fuzak joined the Michigan State faculty in 1948 as an assistant professor in the college of education. He was appointed associate professor in 1950, professor in 1956 and assistant dean in 1960.
He was among the longest-serving FARs to the Big Ten Conference, completing a term that extended from 1959 to 1979. “As evidenced by his long tenure as faculty rep at the Big Ten, and by the fact that he rose to the position of NCAA president, Jack was a stalwart in intercollegiate athletics matters,” said Wayne Duke, who as former commissioner of the Big Ten was familiar with Fuzak’s contributions.
Fuzak was a letter-winner in baseball, football and basketball at the University of Illinois, Champaign. He played on Illinois’ 1934 Big Ten Conference championship baseball team and spent three years in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system before an injury ended his career. He returned to graduate from Illinois in 1939 and subsequently earned master’s and doctorate degrees from the school.
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The NCAA News
John A. “Jack” Fuzak, longtime Michigan State University faculty athletics representative and former NCAA membership president, died June 2 at the age of 93.Fuzak, a faculty member at Michigan State from 1948-79. was president of the NCAA in 1975 and 1976. He is the only membership president to preside over four NCAA Conventions, chairing two “special” Conventions in August 1975 and January 1976 in addition to the regular sessions those years.
Economic issues prompted the two special Conventions. At the first, Fuzak asked delegates to set aside special interests and focus on measures to cut costs. Limitations on coaching staffs, traveling squads and off-campus visits to prospects, and reductions in the number of grants-in-aid allowed were among the key items delegates adopted. There were so many proposals, in fact (73 original and 103 amendments-to-amendments), that another special Convention had to be called just before the 1976 annual Convention in order for delegates to complete their business.
In an interview with The NCAA News in 1992, Fuzak said present-day financial issues were the same that gave delegates fits two decades earlier. “There are always attempts to reduce some of these things (squad size, coaching staffs, official visits), and there always is a negative reaction to that from coaches,” he said. “They say, ‘Well, that kills our Olympic prospects if you restrict the length of practice.’ It was a case of ‘Don’t gore my ox.’”
The onset of the NCAA sponsoring women’s sports also was a volatile issue in Fuzak’s time. The NCAA was getting pressure to provide championships for women, but the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women did not want NCAA intervention.
“We were trying hard to work cooperatively,” Fuzak said in 1992. “I became convinced that we had no alternative but to move in the direction of providing women’s championships. Of course, I felt that it would be to the benefit of women to have the support and financing of the NCAA. I think it was inevitable to have one organization — one structure for both men’s and women’s athletics.”
Fuzak joined the Michigan State faculty in 1948 as an assistant professor in the college of education. He was appointed associate professor in 1950, professor in 1956 and assistant dean in 1960.
He was among the longest-serving FARs to the Big Ten Conference, completing a term that extended from 1959 to 1979. “As evidenced by his long tenure as faculty rep at the Big Ten, and by the fact that he rose to the position of NCAA president, Jack was a stalwart in intercollegiate athletics matters,” said Wayne Duke, who as former commissioner of the Big Ten was familiar with Fuzak’s contributions.
Fuzak was a letter-winner in baseball, football and basketball at the University of Illinois, Champaign. He played on Illinois’ 1934 Big Ten Conference championship baseball team and spent three years in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system before an injury ended his career. He returned to graduate from Illinois in 1939 and subsequently earned master’s and doctorate degrees from the school.
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