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In 1994, the University of Pennsylvania named a former
Quaker basketball standout as its eighth Director of
Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics. Six years later,
Steve Bilsky, W’71 has accomplished many of the goals
he set forth at the beginning of his tenure.
Renovations, ground breakings and facelifts to Penn’s
athletic facilities could not have been accomplished without
the tireless fundraising efforts by Penn’s director of
athletics. Over the past few years, Bilsky has been
instrumental in helping the Weightman Fund (Penn’s
annual giving fund) nearly double, from $1.06 million in
1995 to $2.2 million in 2001 and at the same time securing
several multi-million dollar gifts for capital needs.
Today, those fundraising efforts have resulted in brand new
facilities like the Penn Baseball Stadium at Murphy Field
and renovations to existing facilities like The Palestra and
the James D. Dunning Jr., Coaches’ Center. In previous
years, the athletic department also made improvements to 12
locker/team rooms, Hollenback, the Boathouse and Ringe
Squash Courts, as well as building beautiful hospitality
rooms in Weightman Hall and The Palestra.
Since his tenure as athletic director began, Bilsky has also
worked hard to encompass recreation’s goals into his
strategic plan. The Katz Fitness Center at Gimbel Gymnasium
was completed in 1999 and met with overwhelming enthusiasm
by its users and the $20 million David Pottruck Health and
Fitness Center began construction in the summer of 2001 and
is scheduled to delight the Penn community with its opening
in 2003. All of these initiatives were proposed and will be
completed with one goal in mind -- Penn’s
student-athlete experience.
When women’s golf became a varsity sport in 1999-2000,
the University of Pennsylvania athletic department grew to
33 intercollegiate athletic programs, which include almost
1,000 athletes that all come under the direction of Bilsky
and his staff. Since 1995, Penn has enjoyed 36 Ivy League
and/or Conference Championships, 16 NCAA Tournament
appearances, four NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients,
more than 50 national All-Americans and five GTE Academic
All-Americans, not to mention the countless All-Ivy League
and Academic All-Ivy League honorees.
The first year of the new millenium provided a bright future
for the state of Penn Athletics. Six teams were crowned Ivy
League champions - the most since 1985. In the "historical
firsts" category, women's basketball and women's tennis both
went undefeated in their respective Ivy League seasons to
win their first Ivy trophies and compete in their first NCAA
postseason tournament. In the "continuing the tradition"
category, football collected it's 11th Ivy League
championship, and fourth in the last nine years, and
wrestling picked up its sixth consecutive Ancient Eight
championship. And in the "keep them coming" category, the
men's track and field squad won the Outdoor Heps
championship for the 13th time and the men's fencing program
earned it's 14th Ivy League championship, and second in the
last three years. The 2000-01 school year also saw Penn
crown seven League Players of the Year and two Rookies of
the Year.
Athletic and academic success has been a staple since
Bilsky’s arrival as athletic director in 1994, but he
also holds a number of other significant accomplishments. In
1995, the settlement of a gender equity complaint against
the University made prior to Bilsky’s arrival was
completed through successful negotiation and has been hailed
as an important accomplishment for women athletes, coaches
of women’s sports and the University as a whole.
In 1996, a Penn tradition was created with the establishment
of the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame. The
inaugural class, comprised of 46 former athletes and
coaches, was inducted during a black-tie gala, which drew
over 600 alumni, family and friends in celebration of
Penn’s prestigious athletic history. The second class
was inducted in the spring of 1998 and the third class of
the Penn Athletic Hall of Fame was introduced at Homecoming
2000 on November 11. In all, 111 former Penn greats are
forever enshrined into Penn’s athletic annals.
In the spring of 2001, the Penn Relay Carnival attracted a
record-108,000 fans, grossed over $1 million in revenue and
yielded more than three million hits on the official Penn
Relays website. ESPN2 also broadcast the women’s
world-record 4x200 relay and other great moments from the
107th running of the Penn Relays from Franklin Field on
Saturday.
Prior to Bilsky’s return to his alma mater, he served
as the executive director of the Department of Athletics and
Recreation at George Washington University. Prior to that,
he was assistant director of athletics at Penn (1979-83). He
earned a Master’s degree in counseling psychology at
the University of Oregon in 1975 and a bachelor of science
in economics from the Wharton School in 1971.
As a student-athlete at Penn, Bilsky was a three-time
All-Ivy League guard and captained the nationally-ranked
Quaker basketball team, considered one of the all-time
greatest Penn teams in basketball history to a 28-1 record
in 1970-71. He led the 1969-70 team in free throw
percentage, hitting 81 percent of his shots from the charity
stripe and is still the Penn record-holder for free throws
made in a game with 17 against Columbia in 1969 and 1970.
Bilsky guided Penn to a No. 3 national ranking after taking
his team to the Eastern regional finals of the NCAA
Tournament and claiming its second straight Ivy League and
Big 5 championships along the way. In Bilsky’s final
two seasons (1970 and 1971) as the Quakers’ point
guard, his teams collected a 53-3 record and he was the
runner up for the Naismith Award in 1971, given to the
nation’s best best player under 6-0.
Bilsky was inducted into the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame
in 1988 and the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of
Fame in 1998.
Bilsky and his wife, Sue, reside in St. Davids, Pa., with
their son, Jeff and daughter Katie.
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