George Bodenheimer, former president and executive chairman of ESPN Inc., will be a faculty member at Iona”™s Hagan School of Business next fall, joining former HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, executive-in-residence at the business school on the New Rochelle campus.
ESPN’s longest-tenured president, Bodenheimer oversaw all multimedia sports assets of the Walt Disney Co. and was co-chairman of Disney Media Networks from 2004 through 2011. In 2012, he became executive chairman of ESPN Inc., providing strategic direction for ESPN”™s global business. He left the company in May 2014.
At Iona, Bodenheimer will teach in the business school”™s sports, entertainment and media division. His appointment was announced at Iona”™s fourth SEMI-Annual Honors Reception on Nov. 15 at the Paley Center for Media in midtown Manhattan.
Iona officials said the sports media executive will co-teach a leadership and management course with Glenn Horine, director and adjunct professor for the Sports, Entertainment and Media Business program. His book, “Every Town Is a Sports Town,” which chronicles the rise of ESPN under his leadership, will be the primary source for the course. Titled “Leadership and Management in Sports, Entertainment, & Media,” the course also will involve other high-level industry executives and will be offered to business graduate students and junior- and senior-year undergraduates.
“With the addition of George and Emmy Award producer Ross Greenburg,” Horine said, “our students have the unique opportunity to learn from executives who have blazed the trails in sports media. George”™s story of excellence in management and leadership at ESPN will resonate loudly with today”™s millennials as they explore career opportunities in the sports, entertainment, and media industry.”
Bodenheimer also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Iona at its annual Sports, Entertainment and Media Industry dinner. Iona officials also announced plans by the college and the V Foundation for Cancer Research to develop joint fundraising initiatives to raise awareness and donations for critical cancer research and to honor the memory of former Iona basketball coach and athletics director Jim Valvano, who formed the foundation with ESPN shortly before his death from cancer in 1993.
Bodenheimer serves as chairman of The V Foundation”™s capital campaign, Not a Moment to Lose, and will donate proceeds from the sale of his book to the V Foundation.
