Laing Kennedy

Last updated November 06, 2019

Laing E. Kennedy is a sports administrator. He previously served as athletic director for Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States since 1994 and previously served as athletic director at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York from 1983 to 1994. In 2005 he began serving as a member of the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee in a five-year position, the second representative ever from the Mid-American Conference. He currently resides in Kent, Ohio.

Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, Salem, and Warren, Ohio, with additional facilities in Cleveland, Independence, and Twinsburg, Ohio, New York City, and Florence, Italy.

Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,904 in the 2010 Census and was estimated at 29,662 in 2018. The city is counted as part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area.

Cornell University is a private and statutory Ivy League research university in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, the university was intended to teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge—from the classics to the sciences, and from the theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in Cornell's founding principle, a popular 1868 Ezra Cornell quotation: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."

Background

Kennedy is a native of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. He attended college at Cornell University, earning a bachelor's degree in animal science in 1963. While at Cornell, he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society and played for the men's ice hockey team. As a goalkeeper he earned All-Ivy League honors for three consecutive years and attained All-America status in 1963 along with being named Cornell's Outstanding Athlete.^[1]

Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 40,902 according to the 2016 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the non-navigable Thames River, approximately 128 km from Toronto, and 43 km from London, Ontario. The city is known as the Dairy Capital of Canada and promotes itself as "The Friendly City".

Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada. Located in Central Canada, it is Canada's most populous province, with 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University. It is often recognized as one of the most prominent societies of its type, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key at Yale University. In 1929, The New York Times stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of undergraduates."

Career

Cornell University

Kennedy served as Cornell's athletic director from 1983 to 1994. While there, Cornell totaled nine team national championships, 36 Ivy League team championships and 102 All-Americans. It was also during his tenure that several upgrades were made to athletic facilities including the press box and playing surface at Schoellkopf Field and construction of the Alberding Field House (now Bartels Hall) and the Oxley Equestrian Center.^[2]

Schoellkopf Field is a 25,597-capacity stadium at Cornell University's Ithaca campus that opened in 1915 and is used for the Cornell Big Red football, sprint football and lacrosse teams. It is located just north of Cascadilla Creek on the southern end of the campus, next to Hoy Field and Lynah Rink; Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, adjacent to the stadium, contains the Robison Hall of Fame Room, the hall of fame for Cornell athletics.

Newman Arena is a 4,473-seat multi-purpose arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, located in Bartels Hall, which is adjacent to Lynah Rink. It is home to the Cornell Big Red basketball and volleyball teams. Its also holds the home of Cornell wrestling for larger events. It opened in January 1990, replacing Barton Hall, which was remodeled to become a full-time indoor track venue. It was named for the late F.R. Newman, Class of 1912, a major benefactor to the university.

Kent State University

Kennedy served as athletic director at Kent State University from 1994 to June 30, 2010.^[3] Through the 2008–09 season, Kennedy's tenure has seen the Golden Flashes win 251 individual Mid-American Conference titles, 85 MAC team titles, along with 83 All-America honors.^[1] All four of Kent State's Reese Trophy wins, awarded for best men's athletic accomplishments in the MAC, occurred under Kennedy with the most recent being in 2009. The women's athletic teams have won the MAC's Jacoby Trophy 5 times under Kennedy with both men and women consistently finishing in the top 3.^[4] He oversaw the addition of two varsity sports, women's soccer and women's golf, and major facility upgrades at Dix Stadium, the MAC Center, and Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium. New facilities built during Kennedy's tenure include Murphy-Mellis Field for field hockey, the Ferrara and Page Golf Training and Learning Center for men's and women's golf, the Diamond at Dix for softball, and the Athletic Academic Resource Center for all KSU student-athletes. Kent State was given full certification by the NCAA both in 1997 and 2004. He also oversaw completion of a comprehensive gender equity study, and the formation of two organizations: the National Athletic Development Council which systematically evaluates the various sports programs and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee which provides input on the department's planning process.

The Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Kent State is a full member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and has been part of the MAC East division since it was created in 1998. Official school colors are Kent State Blue and Kent State Gold. Joel Nielsen is athletic director, a position he has held since May 1, 2010.

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana, and New York. For football, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.

Dix Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Kent State Golden Flashes football team. In addition, since 2016 the stadium is also home to the Kent State women's soccer team and since 2019 to the women's lacrosse team. Previously, it was home to the Kent State field hockey team from 1997 to 2004 and served as a secondary home for the KSU men's soccer team in the 1970s. It opened on September 13, 1969 and was named in 1973 after Robert C. Dix, former publisher of the Record-Courier and a member of Kent State's Board of Trustees for more than three decades. It was built as an expansion and relocation of Memorial Stadium, with all of Memorial Stadium's main seating areas used at the current stadium in a new configuration.

Kennedy was named the Northeast Region Division I-A Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in both 2002 and 2006.^[1] He announced in August 2009 that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 athletic season.^[5]

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team	1961–62
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team	1962–63

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References

1 2 3 "Director of Athletics Laing Kennedy". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 2007. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
↑ "History of Athletics At Cornell University". Cornell Big Red. Cornell University. 2007. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
↑ "The Search for the Next Laing Kennedy". Daily Kent State. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
↑ "Flashes Claim Fourth Reese Trophy For Men's Sports Excellence". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
↑ "Laing Kennedy Announces Retirement Plans". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

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[Kennedy-1] 1 2 3 "Director of Athletics Laing Kennedy". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 2007. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-04.

[2] "History of Athletics At Cornell University". Cornell Big Red. Cornell University. 2007. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-04.

[3] "The Search for the Next Laing Kennedy". Daily Kent State. Retrieved 2019-11-05.

[trophies-4] "Flashes Claim Fourth Reese Trophy For Men's Sports Excellence". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[retire-5] "Laing Kennedy Announces Retirement Plans". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.