A 1968 graduate of Hobart, Mike Hanna became the College’s athletics director in 1981. He has piloted the athletics program to new heights through unprecedented championships in lacrosse, to today’s department-wide success.
In an effort to enhance Hobart student-athletes’ leadership skills both on and off the field, Hanna started the Napier Leadership Seminar. Initiated in 1996-97, participants meet throughout the year to discuss leadership issues and to learn from featured speakers such as University of Florida Director of Athletics Jeremy Foley ’74, U.S. Navy fighter pilot and P.O.W. Charlie Plumb and former NFL quarterback Don McPherson.
During Hanna’s tenure, he has overseen a wide-range of facility enhancements, including the building or remolding of the Bristol Field House, the Smith Squash Center, McCooey Field, Cozzens Field, the Hockey Varsity House, the RFK Varsity Strength Training Center, the Martin Athletic Director’s Suite, and the Caird Center for Sports and Recreation, as well as several team rooms and the basketball arena.
An active member of the community, Hanna has served in a variety of civic positions with groups like the Geneva Rotary Club, Lakeview Mental Health Services and Ontario ARC.
Hanna was a paratrooper and an officer in military intelligence, including a tour as an adviser in South Vietnam. Since his discharge from the U.S. Army, he has worked in college athletics, including stops at Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Naval Academy, and Princeton University.
As a quarterback, Hanna broke all of Hobart’s season and career passing records. He co-captained both the football and lacrosse teams and earned the Francis L. “Babe” Kraus Award as Hobart’s Athlete of the Year during his senior year.
[Courtesy: HWS Athletics]
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