Now in his third decade as the leader of the MSU athletics family, Director of Athletics Bill Rowe oversees a program that has enjoyed amazing success in 25 years at the NCAA Division I level.

Rowe has been a part of the MSU athletics scene for nearly 45 years, becoming athletics director in 1982 after spending 19 years as athletics business manager and head baseball coach in the days when MSU was competing successfully as a member of the NCAA Division II Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Rowe began as athletics director as MSU became a charter member of the Mid-Continent Conference. His leadership saw the Bears win five all-sports titles in eight MCC years, winning 30 league titles overall, twice as many as any other league school. Rowe was MCC Executive of the Year the last four MSU years in the league, with the Bears winning five sport championships in 1986-87, six in 1987-88, five in 1988-89, and four in 1989-90, on the way to league all-sports titles.

Under Rowe, MSU men’s and women’s teams have made 45 trips to NCAA championships, along with numerous NCAA appearances by individual athletes, and 10 visits to national invitational events. Programs and the financial base of athletics have improved, facilities continue to be enhanced, and MSU has moved from the Mid-Continent and Gateway Conferences into the Missouri Valley Conference, with men’s and women’s programs in the same conference for the first time in school history.

Rowe’s work set the stage for MVC acceptance of MSU men’s sports in 1990. Since that time, MSU has never finished below fifth in the 10-team Valley all-sports competition, winning the league all-sports title in 2000, 2002 and in 2003.

Rowe, who recently completed a four-year term as a member of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, has guided major improvements in Hammons Student Center, Plaster Sports Complex and other facilities, as well as upgraded the financial base from which the program operates through The Bears Fund and other means.

He has supervised MSU hosting of NCAA regional and national championship competition in Division II baseball, basketball, cross country and golf, and Division I action in wrestling, cross country, women’s basketball, football and volleyball.

A Marionville native and 1961 MSU graduate, Rowe coached the Bears to a 394-230-1 record in 19 MSU baseball seasons. The Bears won three MIAA titles, were in seven NCAA Division II tournaments, and went to the Division II World Series four times, finishing second in 1969 and third in 1970. Rowe was the winningest MIAA coach ever when MSU left the league, was regional Coach of the Year four times, and had nine All-Americans and 17 pro signees. Catcher Mark Bailey in 1984 and pitcher Scott Bailes in 1986 were the first MSU baseballers to reach the majors.

Rowe chaired Division II All-America and Coach of the Year committees and spent five years on the American Baseball Coaches Association Executive Committee. He served on the NCAA I-AA football Central Region advisory committee and completed a four-year term on the NCAA I-AA football committee before beginning his most recent term on the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee in 2001. He has been NCAA representative at baseball regionals 10 times, and served two terms as chairman of the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee. His long service to baseball earned him induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1988, and he received an MSU Outstanding Alumnus award in 1988. He went into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Rowe and his wife, Nydia, have two children; Jeff and Nancy, 1994 and 1996 MSU graduates, respectively, and two grandchildren.