Tom Renner has been selected to receive a lifetime achievement award from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Renner, who retired in December from his position as associate vice president for public and community relations at Hope College, will be honored at a luncheon on Monday, June 9, in Orlando, Fla., during CoSIDA’s annual convention. He is one of four retiring sports information directors from around the country who are being honored.
“Tom Renner’s record as MIAA publicist and sports information director at Hope College speaks for itself,” MIAA Commissioner David Neilson said. “He has told the story of the MIAA and its student-athletes through his tremendous dedication and service to our conference. Tom continues to serve the conference having accepted the position as MIAA historian after retiring from Hope. In this role he continues his service to our member institutions as he digitizes the substantial archives of the nation’s oldest collegiate conference. We are thrilled that CoSIDA is presenting this lifetime achievement award to him. We can think of no better person to receive this honor.”
The CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a CoSIDA member who has served at least 25 years and is retiring or leaving the profession. Renner also served as publicist of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1967 to 2008. He is currently the MIAA"s historian.
Renner began Hope’s sports information program in 1967 and served as its sports information director until last summer. He received a number of honors from CoSIDA over the years for his work, including outstanding game programs. Under his leadership, the MIAA became one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the country to set up its own website to disseminate scores, schedules and conference news nearly 20 years ago.
The MIAA in 2008 honored Renner by naming an award honoring outstanding student workers in sports information offices at its member college in his honor – The Renner Associate SID Award.
Other recipients of CoSIDA’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award include Bruce Madej, longtime sports information director at the University of Michigan; Tom Fick, retired sports information director at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; and Rick Leddy, former sports information director at Southern Connecticut State University and former secretary to the board of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.