DAVID
HOUSEL
Auburn
University Athletic Director
Since David Housel was named Auburn's 13th Athletic Director on
April 1, 1994, progress has been the one constant at Auburn.
A $4.2 million facelift to Plainsman Park made Auburn's baseball
facility one of the most beautiful college parks in America. The
3,186 seat stadium offers the brick backdrop of Wrigley Field,
the dark green chainback seats of Camden Yard and the Green Monster
of Fenway Park.
The $1.4 million Jonathan B. Lovelace Athletic Museum and Hall
of Honor opened in April of 1996. The interactive, state of the
art museum features all Auburn sports and heroes such as Ralph
"Shug" Jordan, Heisman Trophy winners Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson,
Charles Barkley, Frank Thomas, Vicki Orr and Harvey Glance. It
is designed to honor Auburn's past, define the present and inspire
the future.
The final phase of Auburn's Student Services Center in Sewell
Hall has been completed providing Auburn student-athletes with
one of the finest resource centers in the nation. Academic support
services have been upgraded and a career counseling program added.
Women's softball became Auburn's 20th varsity sport this year.
Plans are underway for a new softball field and a major renovation
of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum to enhance Auburn's basketball
and gymnastics programs.
Auburn's first major marketing and promotion efforts have resulted
in record attendance at men's basketball games, and Auburn has
been selected to host the NCAA men's golf championship in the
year 2000.
In his two years as Athletic Director, Auburn has won two SEC
championships and appeared in post-season competition numerous
times. Auburn's program ranked in Top 20 in 1995-96 for overall
competitive accomplishment and 16 of Auburn's 19 teams were in
postseason competition.
Housel steadfastly refuses to take credit for any of the progress
made during his first two years as Director. "Auburn deserves
the credit," he says. "Auburn and Auburn people. None of the things
that have happened could have happened without a dedicated staff,
a committed group of student-athletes and the loyalty and support
of Auburn people down through the years.
"As Coach Jordan said, it's not the bricks and mortar that make
Auburn special. It's Auburn people who make Auburn special and
we are seeing that in their support of our program and the young
men and women who wear Auburn Orange and Blue."
Whatever else might be said of David Housel, it must be said
that he is an Auburn man. First, last and always, he is an Auburn
man. He has dedicated the greater part of his life to the betterment
of Auburn. With the exception of a nine-month stint as news editor
of The Huntsville News in 1969-70, Housel has been at Auburn for
31 years. And in those nine months in Huntsville, he never gave
up his post office box in Auburn.
Housel's first job at Auburn was in the athletic ticket office,
where he served as an administrative assistant to Bill Beckwith,
himself an Auburn legend. While working in the ticket office,
Housel continued his association with athletic director Jeff Beard
and Ralph "Shug" Jordan, the head football coach, two Auburn legends
and mentors of Housel's "Auburn Man" philosophy.
When Housel was named athletic director, Beard, retired and
living in the Gold Hill community near Auburn, was the first person
he visited. The second was Evelyn Jordan, Coach Jordan's widow.
Housel served as an instructor in Journalism and as Advisor
to The Auburn Plainsman from 1972-80 and rejoined the athletic
department in 1980 as an Assistant Director of Sports Information.
He became Sports Information Director in 1981 when Pat Dye was
named Athletic Director, named Assistant Athletic Director in
1985 and Director of Athletics in 1994.
Asked to describe his personal philosophy as Athletic Director,
Housel said, "Cliff Hare said it best, 'Athletics make men strong,
study makes men wise, and character makes men great.'"
The 50-year-old Housel has been a member of the NCAA Public
Relations and Communications Committees and served as chair of
the Communications Committee in 1994. He is a past president of
the Southeastern Conference Sports Information Directors and he
worked 18 straight NCAA Division I men's Basketball Championships,
from 1977 through 1994. He served as a member of the Final Four
Media Coordination Committee from 1983 through 1994.
An award-winning free lance writer, Housel is the author of
two books, "Saturdays to Remember" and "From the Desk of David
Housel : A Collection of Auburn Stories." A member of Phi Gamma
Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa and Sigma Delta Chi, he is also an
honorary member of the University Singers and the Auburn Football
Lettermen Club. He received the Alabama Chapter of the National
Football Foundation's "Contribution to Amateur Football" award
in 1984.
A man for many seasons, Housel's varied interests include a
love of Broadway and the theater. He made his Broadway debut July
10, 1992, at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in the Cameron Mackintosh
production of "Five Guys Named Moe."
He serves on the NCAA's District III Postgraduate Scholarship
Committee and as Chair of the Dean's Council for Auburn's College
of Liberal Arts.
He is married to the former Susan McIntosh, a third grade teacher
at Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn.
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