On May 19th the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors elected Chris Massaro as Board President. Outgoing President Bill Emendorfer said “It is great to have someone of Chris’s ability to serve as the next President of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. We have had many accomplishments at the Hall of Fame in the past two years , having had the privilege to serve as President and to work with Ryland Hoskins at the Hall has been a great honor . I look forward to working with Chris and following his leadership and direction for the Hall of Fame.
Chris is the Athletic Director at Middle Tennessee State University, a position he has held since 2005. Chris has helped revolutionize the MTSU Blue Raiders’ athletic department while helping pave the way for even greater success in future years.
Massaro’s success at Middle Tennessee doesn’t stop with the athletic teams. There has been a tremendous track record for hiring quality coaches with head football coach Rick Stockstill, women’s head basketball coach Rick Insell, men’s golf coach Whit Turnbow, and men’s tennis coach Jimmy Borendame – all Massaro hires – each earning Sun Belt Coach of the Year in their first seasons. In all, Massaro’s guidance has provided coaches with the resources to produce 33 conference titles, 31 NCAA team postseason appearances, two Sun Belt Conference Athletes of the Year, and 23 Coach of the Year awards.
Academic enhancement has also skyrocketed under Massaro’s leadership. Massaro, who was appointed to a panel on APR Improvement Plans for the 2007 NCAA Convention, inherited a football program with a national-low score of 812 and saw it increase to 990 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2009. As a whole, the Athletic Department has improved from a 908 score when Massaro was hired to an impressive cumulative (five years) score of 976 in 2009-10. All 17 Middle Tennessee sports teams achieved passing marks of 925 or higher in 2010-11 with five teams turning in a perfect mark of 1,000.
Facility upgrades also have been at the top of Massaro’s impressive list of accomplishments. He completed a $6 million capital campaign for the new baseball stadium and initiated a series of major renovations to existing athletic facilities during the previous six years, including a state-of-the-art soccer and track complex, a state-of-the-art golf performance center, and the Ken Shipp Women’s Basketball Office suite. Most recently, construction began on the new Jeff Hendrix Stadium Club which is set to debut for the 2012 football season.
The Glenwood Springs, Colo., native joined the South Carolina staff under the Ohio University sport administration program in 1985. Massaro earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1983 and his master’s degree in sport administration from Ohio University in 1986. At UNC, Massaro was a five-year football team member.
Massaro and his wife, Cindy, have four children: Hank, Lainey, Rachel, and Ben.