Former HBO Sports president and award-winning filmmaker Ross Greenburg returned to Iona College this spring as the New Rochelle school’s newest Executive-in-Residence.
During his first semester Greenburg will lecture, organize campus presentations, work with classes and give a campus-wide lecture/presentation on the current state of the media.
In the fall semester he will continue to guest-lecture and lead campus events that include a special 15th anniversary presentation of “Nine Innings from Ground Zero” that focuses on how the New York Yankees helped the region recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy.
President of HBO Sports from 2000 to 2011 and at HBO for 33 years in various roles, Greenburg has won more than 100 major television sports awards including 53 Sports Emmy Awards, 8Â Peabody Awards, 21 Cable ACE awards, 12 Cine Golden Eagles Awards and 5Â Monitor Awards from the Video Tape Production Association.
“Our students will have front row seats to the business of content creation, packaging, and distribution in a media age that thirsts for sports and entertainment programming. Ross will be an integral part of our program experience, Glenn Horine, director of Iona”™s Center for Sports, Entertainment, and Media Business, said.
Greenburg”™s desire to educate students about the rapidly-changing television industry stems from his 37 years of experience through its changes.
“I think I can bring the graduate and undergraduate students at Iona a deeper understanding and guide them as to where programming and the distribution of creative content is headed in the future,” he said.
Greenburg Productions, the company he created in 2011, produces documentaries and reality series including HBO”™s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” “Hard Knocks” and “24/7.” The company also produces shows for Showtime, CBS, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel, Epix and Fox.
Films he has produced include “Miracle,” the story of the USA hockey team that upset the Soviets in the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and “61*” about Roger Maris”™ historic and controversial single-season home run-record year, directed by actor Billy Crystal.
Greenburg”™s late father, Robert, graduated from Iona with a bachelor”™s degree in economics in 1977 after studying at the University of Texas from 1937 to 1939. “My dad would be proud of this association with Iona,” Greenburg said.
