Bryan B. Blair has a mission to engage the University of Toledo and the greater Toledo community to position the Rockets’ sports programs among the premier Group of Five athletic departments in the country. The 14th athletic director in UT history, Blair is the first African-American to hold the post.
Joining the Rockets after serving as the deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Washington State University from 2018-22, Blair’s leadership has spurred the founding of the 1923 Society, a philanthropic society to raise money to support Rocket student-athletes in their academic, athletic and personal pursuits; “Dining With the Deans”, an opportunity for Rocket student-athletes to meet and share ideas with University leaders informally; and a partnership with RealResponse, allowing Rocket student-athletes to communicate with the administration in real-time. In Blair’s first year on the job, Toledo won MAC Championships in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, the first school in the history of the NCAA-FBS to win league titles in those six sports in a single season.
“Athletics brings people together in a way that few other things can,” Blair explains. “People set aside all their differences because in that moment, they’re all Rockets. You see people of all types of backgrounds high-fiving and embracing each other because of the feeling that athletics gives you. I think if we can embrace that as a city, the sky’s the limit because our peers don’t have Toledo. That is our competitive advantage.”
Hear his big ideas, below:
Vice President and Director of Athletics, University of Toledo
Bryan B. Blair has a mission to engage the University of Toledo and the greater Toledo community to position the Rockets’ sports programs among the premier Group of Five athletic departments in the country. The 14th athletic director in UT history, Blair is the first African-American to hold the post.
Joining the Rockets after serving as the deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Washington State University from 2018-22, Blair’s leadership has spurred the founding of the 1923 Society, a philanthropic society to raise money to support Rocket student-athletes in their academic, athletic and personal pursuits; “Dining With the Deans”, an opportunity for Rocket student-athletes to meet and share ideas with University leaders informally; and a partnership with RealResponse, allowing Rocket student-athletes to communicate with the administration in real-time. In Blair’s first year on the job, Toledo won MAC Championships in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, the first school in the history of the NCAA-FBS to win league titles in those six sports in a single season.
“Athletics brings people together in a way that few other things can,” Blair explains. “People set aside all their differences because in that moment, they’re all Rockets. You see people of all types of backgrounds high-fiving and embracing each other because of the feeling that athletics gives you. I think if we can embrace that as a city, the sky’s the limit because our peers don’t have Toledo. That is our competitive advantage.”
