Big Ten Associate Commissioner Mark Rudner began his 32nd consecutive year of service to Big Ten Conference universities on January 8, 2010.
Rudner, 55, a native of Canton, Ohio and 1978 graduate of The Ohio State University, has served the Conference in many different capacities. He was hired in 1979 by then commissioner Wayne Duke as the assistant media relations director, a position he held for six years before being named Director of Communications.
He was named assistant to current Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany upon the latter’s appointment in 1989, and then was elevated to the position of Associate Commissioner in 1998.
Rudner participated, and was a leader, in many of the sweeping changes that affected Big Ten athletics in the last 31 years. The integration of women’s sports and women’s sports championships into the Big Ten Conference in 1981, the expansion of the Conference in 1989 to include an 11th member—Penn State University, development of comprehensive television and multimedia packages in men’s and women’s sports, and special events management are just some of the accomplishments that have marked his time at the Big Ten.
He helped negotiate new television agreements with ABC Sports, ESPN, and CBS Sports, generated new television programming for women’s sports, and was for many years one of the Executive Producers of the Big Ten women’s basketball game of the week.
As an administrator, Rudner served as Conference office liaison to the Big Ten Directors of Athletics for 10 years, and is currently liaison to Big Ten football coaches. He works closely with men’s basketball coaches and women’s basketball coaches, and has also been a sports liaison to men’s and women’s gymnastics coaches, softball coaches and wrestling coaches.
He is staff liaison to Big Ten football postseason bowl partners, and in 2004 helped develop Big Ten instant replay ‘pilot’ program, the first of its kind in college football.
As a result of Big Ten institutions assigning all television rights in all varsity sports to the Big Ten Conference, Rudner has the responsibility to manage and administer more than 750 television programs each year.
And because of its direct relationship to television, Rudner is also responsible for coordinating regular-season scheduling of football and men’s and women’s basketball with the Conference’s media partners.
He has been a good-will ambassador for the Big Ten Conference at hundreds of Big Ten football and basketball games and other athletics events and championships. Rudner has represented the Big Ten on 35 occasions at postseason football bowl games, including numerous Rose Bowl contests.
Rudner married the former Sue King in June 1985. They have two sons, Brad (23), a University of Iowa graduate and an intern in the University of Michigan Department of Athletics, and Corey (20), a sophomore at the University of Illinois where he is majoring in Aviation.
They live in Schaumburg, IL.