Hall of Fame
O.C. Bird was Ohio University’s first athletic director, appointed in 1922 and serving 14 years in that position. Prior to this, he graduated from Oberlin College and earned his master's degree from Harvard. At Oberlin, he was a four-sport participant in football, baseball, tennis, and swimming. Bird served as freshman football coach at Ohio State University from 1917 to 1920. He went on to serve as State Director of Physical Education of Alabama from 1920 until 1922 when he became Ohio University’s first athletic director. Back in Ohio now, Bird was president of the Buckeye Conference and the Ohio Physical Education and Health Association. Peden Stadium, Ohio’s present football facility, was built during his tenure. The ice rink on campus was posthumously named in Bird's honor in 1960. At the time of his passing in 1948, Bird was head of the Physical Education Department of Ohio University.
