Rochester Institute of Technology Athletics

NOMINATIONS FOR THE CLASS OF 2025 ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED. DEADLINE IS JULY 11TH. 

When Rochester Institute of Technology moved to its present campus in Henrietta, N.Y. for the 1968-69 academic year, the Intercollegiate Athletics Department also held its first Sports Hall of Fame induction in 1969.

The first class featured Dr. Mark Ellingson, Harold ‘Steve’ Brodie, Sherman B. Hagberg and A. Leo Fox. Ellingson was our first wrestling coach and later became president of the university. Brodie served as men’s basketball faculty manager for 50 years. Hagberg was the first athletic director, and Fox coached men’s basketball, guiding the 1955-56 team to a 17-0 record. That team was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

The Sports Hall of Fame was founded to honor former athletes, coaches, administrators, teams and others who have contributed significantly to intercollegiate athletics. With the 2021 inductions, 256 individuals and six teams have been honored. Due to the pandemic, no inductees were selected in 2020.

The founders of the Hall of Fame were A. Stephen Walls, Louis A. Alexander, Jr., Keith Mosley and Vernon R. Titus. All were members of the RIT Athletic Committee. Planning began to coincide with RIT’s relocation to the Henrietta, N.Y. campus.

Originally the Sports Hall of Fame display was located in the George Clark Gymnasium Lobby. When the Gene Polisseni Center opened in 2014, the Hall of Fame was moved to its permanent location. The Center is home for RIT men’s and women’s hockey teams.