13 Facts About Joseph Kearney

Joseph L Kearney was an American coach and sports administrator in university athletics.

Joseph Kearney served as athletic director at three major universities: the University of Washington, Michigan State University, and Arizona State University.

Joseph Kearney was commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference from 1980 until his retirement in 1994.

Joseph Kearney was a member of the SPU basketball team.

Joseph Kearney then became a high school principal in the state of Washington when he was hired by Onalaska High School, where he taught and coached.

Joseph Kearney concurrently pursued and completed a master's degree in education at San Jose State University and moved back to the University of Washington to finish his PhD, where he was strongly linked to the UW Athletic Department and quickly rose to the rank of assistant athletic director under Jim Owens, who was Washington's football coach and athletic director when Kearney joined the Athletic Department.

Joseph Kearney was then named to the USOC Board of Directors and in 1996 he was awarded the USOC Olympic Torch Award.

Joseph Kearney hired and worked with some of the most prominent coaches in university athletics, including Hall of Fame football player, Jim Owens, college football coaching hall of famer Don James, and Darryl Rogers in football.

In 1991, Joe Joseph Kearney was nominated by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to be its recipient of the Corbett Award, which is the highest honor in university sports administration.

In July 2014, Joseph Kearney was selected for induction into the University of Washington Husky Hall of Fame.

Further, in May 2020, Joseph Kearney was inducted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame for his long career in high-school and university athletics within the state.

Joseph Kearney was the father of five children and had eleven grandchildren.

Joseph Kearney died on May 5,2010, in Tucson, after an eight-month battle with pancreatic cancer.