RELEASED:  Monday, March 17, 2008

First WIAC Commissioner Fred Jacoby Passes Away

Madison, Wis.--Long-time college athletic administrator Fred Jacoby passed away March 15, 2008 in Dallas, Texas after a 2-1/2 year battle with Multiple Myeloma. He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Everett and Mae Jacoby of Logan, Ohio. He is survived by his wife of 52 years Marcia Jacoby; three sons, Bob and Steve of Dallas, Texas, Tom of Columbus, Ohio; two grandchildren, Andrew and Emily and his sister, Marilyn Brain of New Jersey.

Jacoby served as the first commissioner of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (formerly known as Wisconsin State University Conference) from 1966-71, before serving as commissioner of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference from 1971 to November 1982, the Division I Central Collegiate Hockey Association (1973-82) and the Division III Ohio Athletic Conference (1981-82).

He took leadership of the Division I Southwest Conference in November 1982, serving for 10 years until retiring in 1993. Jacoby came out of retirement to become the first full-time commissioner of the NCAA Division II Lone Star (1994) and the American Southwest (1996) Conferences. He retired for a second time in June 2006 from the LSC and ASC.

A native of Logan, Ohio, Jacoby graduated from Ohio State University in 1948 and his career totaled over 50 years experience in coaching and athletics administration. He spent 10 years as a high school coach in Ohio and Wisconsin (1948-57), and eight years as an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1958-66) where he earned a masters degree in 1953.

The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Jacoby was most recently named the NACDA/NIT Athletics Directors Award recipient in June 2002; an Honorary Member of the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame (2006) and the ASC (2006), LSC (2007) and University of Texas at Dallas Athletics (2007) Halls of Honor. Jacoby was the recipient of a heart transplant in September 1989 and became an advocate for organ donation and the Southwest Transplant Alliance.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday March 18, 2008 at King of Glory Lutheran Church, 6411 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Fred Jacoby may be made to U.T. Southwestern Medical Center Heart, Lung and Vascular Program 5909 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas, Texas 75390-9243, or King of Glory Lutheran Church (Foundation) 6411 LBJ Freeway Dallas, Texas 75240.