Herman Ronald "Herm" Frazier (born October 29, 1954) is a retired American sprinter. He won gold medals in the relay at the 1976 Olympics and 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games. Individually he earned a bronze medal in the 400 m event at the 1976 Olympics. He served as

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanen ...

of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team and as the

Athletic Director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

and the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. He currently serves as the senior deputy athletics director at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Athlete

Frazier started his athletic career as multiple sport athlete at Germantown High School in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He was a member of the Philadelphia Pioneers Track Club where he was coached by Alex Woodley. His collegiate career began at

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

. He later attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, where he became an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

sprinter. He was the team captain of the 1977 national championship track team. He graduated from ASU in 1977 with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. As a member of the US National Track & Field team, Frazier participated both in the Olympic and

Pan-American games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. In the 1976

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Olympics, he ran the first leg for the gold medal-winning 4 × 400-meter relay team. Individually, he won a bronze medal in the 400-meter dash. He was also a gold medalist at both the 1975 and 1979 Pan-American Games. In 1980, he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team that

boycotted A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict ...

the Summer Olympic Games in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He also tried to qualify for the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

as a bobsledder.

Administrator

Frazier began his administrative career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at Arizona State University in 1977. He would later become a full-time administrator and remained with the university for a total of 23 years, eventually becoming the Senior Associate Athletics Director. He would earn his first athletics director job at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2000. In 2002, he left UAB to accept the athletic director position at the University of Hawaii where he would remain until 2008. Frazier was fired the day after he failed to re-sign football coach

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa ...

. In 2008 Frazier was named associate athletic director for sports administration at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, and stayed there until 2011. In July 2011, he was hired at

Daryl Gross Daryl James Gross (born June 20, 1961) is currently the executive director of intercollegiate athletics at California State University, Los Angeles. Prior to serving in this position, Gross served as the athletic director at Syracuse University f ...

to take similar position. He has served on the

U.S. Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

in numerous capacities. In 1996, he was elected as one of three vice-presidents for the committee and accompanied the team to the 2000 games in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Most recently, he served as the chef de mission for the 2004 games in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He has also served on the U.S. Olympic Athletes Advisory Council and the U.S. Olympic Overview Commission. As a member of the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

Board of Directors, he was vice-president in 1996 and chairman in 1998 and 1999. He serves as the board-chair for

Syracuse Stage Syracuse Stage is a professional non-profit theater company in Syracuse, New York, United States. It is the premier professional theater in Central New York. Each year, it offers several productions, including multiple collaborations between Syr ...

and

The Bowerman The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American college athletics, collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon Ducks track and field, Oregon track and field ...

Advisory Board.

Honors

Frazier has received numerous honors, including the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award ( Class of 2002), which recognizes "distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates". Frazier was one of 461 athletes to receive a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

due to the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics. In 2003 he was cited as one of the ''101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports'' by

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

. He was named as one of ''The 50 Most Powerful African Americans in Sports'' in the March 2005 issue of ''Black Enterprise'' magazine. In 2002, the ''Herman R. Frazier Political Science Scholarship'' was established by his friends and colleagues at Arizona State University to "celebrate and honor Mr. Frazier’s lifetime achievements" and award a "deserving political science student." In 2012, Frazier was awarded the Pioneer Award for his role in the 2004 Olympic Games, honoring minority 'first' in athletics, by the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional non-profit organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more tha ...

. On November 5, 2020, Frazier was inducted into the

Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was established in May 2002 to honor individuals and groups who are either area natives who became prominent in the field of sports or who became ...

Criticism

Frazier was criticized by some for leaving UAB with a $7.5 million deficit. His supporters noted that he had inherited a deficit and did not receive institutional support, while his detractors claimed that he was ineffective in increasing revenue. On January 8, 2008, Herman Frazier was fired from his position as athletic director at the University of Hawaii following heavy criticism from the fans and media of the State of Hawaii. On March 3, 2007, he was loudly booed by the crowd following the final home game of the University of Hawaii's head basketball coach

Riley Wallace Robert Riley Wallace (born October 25, 1941) is an American retired basketball coach. He spent most of his career coaching college basketball, and was the head coach of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors men's team from 1987 through 2007. Early life ...

. Frazier is widely viewed as having forced Wallace to resign by including a "no-extension" clause in his final contract. However, Wallace has accepted responsibility by saying, "The bottom line is Riley Wallace signed the contract." Frazier was also criticized by both the media and public for ongoing delays and a perceived lack of integrity in finalizing the full

2007 Hawaii Warriors football team 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

schedule. Frazier admitted that he may have miscalculated in regards to the schedule but stands by his record at Hawaii citing, in part, his balancing of the athletics budget. He inherited a $2.5 million deficit from his predecessor. (Note: It was discovered after Frasier left that the so-called "balanced budget" left the athletic department with an even greater debt hovering around $6 million even after the windfall from the Sugar Bowl.) Finally, Frazier also received the brunt of the blame for then UH football coach,

, leaving the university for

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

. On April 6, 2009, Jim Bolla—who Frazier hired in 2004—was fired as the women's basketball coach for Hawaii after former players complained of a "pattern of verbal abuse" from Bolla. Former UH player Pamela Tambini told the ''Honolulu Advertiser'' that players complained for years about their treatment by Bolla to Frazier but Frazier apparently took no actions. The paper quoted Tambini stating: "Everybody knew about it and did nothing about it ... We were going through hell. No student should have had to go through that. It's not fair."

References

External links

Syracuse Athletics Profile

Arizona State Photographs

1993 Interview
with

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

2016 Video Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier, Herman 1954 births Living people Track and field athletes from Philadelphia American male sprinters Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine athletic directors UAB Blazers athletic directors Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Congressional Gold Medal recipients Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Syracuse University faculty NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Denison Big Red men's track and field athletes Arizona State Sun Devils men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen