SIAC Commissioners
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B.T. Harvey
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1941-1965
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W.S.M. Banks
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1966
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Frank L. Forbes
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1967-1969
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George H. Hobson
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1970-1983
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Dr. Howard Davis
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1983-1988
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Dr. James E. Hawkins
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1989-1990
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Wallace Jackson
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1991-2001 *
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Robert Vowels
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2001-2003
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Dr. William E. Lide
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2003-2008
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* Wallace Jackson was the first Full-Time Commissioner. Prior to Commissioner Jackson the commissioners served on a part-time basis.
Burwell Townsend Harvey (1941-1965)
Burwell Townsend Harvey was the most successful athletics coach in Morehouse College history. The Morehouse football stadium (built 1983) is named in his honor. Harvey was the first commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and served in this capacity for 25 years (1941-1965). A graduate of Colgate University, Harvey arrived at Morehouse in 1916 to teach physics and chemistry. He would remain at the College for 42 years and coach Maroon Tiger teams in baseball, basketball and football, from 1919-1929. Harvey had the highest winning percentage (.885) of all Morehouse basketball coaches. His teams won 131 games, including 10 consecutive league titles, and lost only 17 times. He compiled a football coaching record of 59-24-6 and his teams won three conference championships, 1916, 1920 and 1921. As a baseball coach, Harvey’s teams won 112 games, lost 45 and tied three. His teams captured four conference titles and tied for two others. His Maroon Tigers captured four conference titles and tied for two others. Professor Harvey was inducted into the halls of fame of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (1969), the SIAC (1993) and the Atlanta University Center. Also, Harvey founded and published Bench Talk Heard, a weekly newsletter chronicling Black college sports events and professional Black athletes.
W.S.M. Banks (1966)
Dr. William Samuel M. Banks II, was a professor and dean instrumental in building FVSU’s social sciences division. He served as the department’s first chairman from 1943-1967 and as Dean of the Faculty in 1973. W.S.M. Banks was Athletic Faculty Representative at Fort Valley State College from 1943 until he became Academic Dean at the college in 1967. He was always very active in the conference affairs. He was elected conference president in 1964 and served through 1966. He guided the conference through many dangerous periods during his term in office. During the period when the conference was trying to decide which national body to cast its allegiance with, the NCAA or the NAIA, President Banks guided the membership through many heated discussions of both associations until they required an institution to be a member of one. W.S.M. Banks was elected to the office of Conference Commissioner in 1966 replacing the retired Commissioner B.T. Harvey. He served until 1966, retiring when he was selected as Dean of Fort Valley State College.
Franklin L. Forbes (1967-1969)
Franklin Lafayette Forbes, a native Georgian graduated from Morehouse College in 1928 and completed studies at the University of Michigan in 1935. He served Morehouse College for 43 years. Franklin Forbes was Chairman of Health and Physical Education for 39 years, coach of baseball for four (4) seasons, coach of football for 15 seasons, coach of tennis and track for 5 seasons and coach of basketball for 31 seasons. During this time he also was a Camp Counselor at the Hartford YMCA during the summer of 1931, he was USO Club Director during the summers of 1943 and 1944, he taught at South Carolina State College during the summers of 1951 and 1952 and at Alabama State University during the summers of 1954, 55, 56, 57 and 58. During his teaching career, he served on numerous committees relating to sports, greatly expanding the influence of the athletic program at Morehouse College. The students, former students, faculty, staff and alumni selected Franklin Forbes as the embodiment of the pursuit to build the mind, body and spirit of Georgians and people around this nation. He was Chairman of the NCAA Voting Committee, Member of the NCAA Research Committee, Member of the NCAA District III Committee, Member of the NCAA College Division Basketball Selection Committee, Member of the American Association of Health and Physical Recreation, Member of the International Congress of Health and Physical Education, Member of the Academy of Physical Education, Member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, Founder and President of the Southern Coaches and Officials Organization, SIAC Executive Committee and was Assistant Commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1963-66 and Commissioner from 1967 to 1970.
George H. Hobson (1970-1982)
G.H. Hobson was born in Greensboro, AL and graduated from Hale County Training School in Greensboro, Alabama in 1929 with honors. He later graduated from Alabama State College in 1933, with a B.S. Degree and graduated from Northwestern University in 1947 with a Masters Degree with honors. Hobson was the Acting Commissioner 1969-70 during the illness of Dr. Forbes. He was later Elected Commissioner 1970. He would then serve in the capacity of Commissioner of the SIAC from 1971-1982. Served on the Committee on Committees NCAA for two years and placed twenty two (22) Blacks on important committees. He is most noted for having worked patiently with the SIAC in recommending and carrying through measures which would enhance the credibility of the Conference and increased the efficiency in matters of ethical conduct and eligibility. Coach Hobson’s athletic career started in 1929. He was a star athlete at Alabama State and was the Captain of the football team in 1932. Hobson would play in the SIAC from 1929-1932. In 1941 his professional career in athletics began. He coached football, organized and coached track and field, organized and coached tennis, organized and coached basketball, organized and coached golf, revived baseball after 34 years of absence at Alabama A&M University. He also organized and supervised a very comprehensive intramural program, coached some phase of athletics from 1933-1965. Hobson was elected President of Southern Coaches and Officials Association in 1945 and is responsible for revising the plan for testing game officials in 1949.
Dr. Howard Davis (1983-1988)
Dr. Howard Davis served as Commissioner of the SIAC from 1983-1988. Before and during his tenure as Commissioner, Dr. Davis served as the director of athletics at Tuskegee University from 1972-1987. Dr. Davis is a native of Camden, SC and is honored generously for his outstanding contributions to physical education and athletics. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina, his Master of Arts Degree from New York University, New York City, his Doctor of Education Degree from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma and has studied at Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. During his collegiate and military days, he was an outstanding performer in football and track. From 1957-1964 he served as Chairman of the Physical Education Department and coach at Howard High School, and as Recreation Director in the city of Georgetown, South Carolina. From 1964-1971 he was affiliated with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where he served in the following areas: Chairman of the Faculty Athletics Committee, Chairman of the Physical Education Department, Acting Athletic Director and Basketball Coach. He is the author of 15 research studies published in national journals and periodicals, over 30 articles, and five books. Dr. Davis was dubbed by the Montgomery Advertiser as “One of the most outstanding educators in the country”.
James E. Hawkins (1989-1990)
Coach Hawkins began working in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1950 as a member of the Committee on Committees. “Hawk” as he was called by some close friends, began his tenure in the SIAC while at Xavier University where he worked for thirteen years as Head Basketball Coach, Assistant Football Coach, Assistant Athletic Director, Baseball Coach and instructor. In 1960, Coach Hawkins relocated to Fort Valley State College as Director of Athletics, basketball and baseball coach and assistant football coach. Two years later he took on the added responsibility as Assistant Commissioner of the SIAC. From 1962 until 1986, he served in that capacity. He was also a member of the Basketball Tournament Committee from 1955 to 1986. In 1959, he became President of the southern Coaches and Officials and held that position until 1961. After his stint as president, Coach Hawkins was elected the executive secretary and treasurer for the Southern Coaches and Officials in 1962. He held the office until 1985. The many years of dedicated service to the conference by men and women like J. E. Hawkins is one of the many reasons the SIAC has survived for seventy-five years and has grown to the point where it is today. This growth is a tribute to the many persons like “Hawk” who continually strived to be the best they can be. “Hawk” served as commissioner of the SIAC from 1989-1990. He also wrote and published the History of the SIAC highlighting the conference’s growth from 1913-1990.
Wallace Jackson (1991-2001) *
A graduate of the University of Georgia (C’77), he was a freelance journalist, former teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools. Wallace was very active in the Atlanta community, he held a number of positions on a number of boards and commissions, including chair of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone Commission and president of the Vine City Civic Association for several years. He was a staunch advocate of historically black colleges (HBCU’s), who loved his family, his work and the Atlanta community. Wallace was the first full time Commissioner for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1990 – 2000, he paved the way for the Division II conference housing HBCU’s from across the south Prior to assuming the position of Commissioner of the SIAC, Jackson was the Director of Sports Information at Alabama A&M and worked in a similar capacity at Albany State College in Albany, GA. He was named Outstanding Young man in America in 1984 through 1991 by the College Sports Information Directors Association (COSIDA). Through his association with COSIDA, Jackson served on the Academic All America Committee, the Publicity For Women Sports Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Publicity For Women Sports Committee, the Ethics Committee and the All-American Committee. Under Wallace’s watch, he directed the movement of the SIAC and the development of the annual Pioneer Bowl, the only bowl game that hosts HBCU schools and one of only two Division II bowl games.
Robert Vowels (2001-2003)
Robert Vowels was commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 2001-03, where he oversaw the expansion of the conference to 11 institutions and negotiated the first multi-year SIAC football and basketball television agreement with Urban Sports and Entertainment. Vowels also negotiated SIAC’s first licensing and agreement program and developed the conference’s first corporate partnership program. Vowels’ 16-year career in intercollegiate athletics also included positions as associate commissioner for the Big 10 Conference and as assistant director of athletics at Vanderbilt University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University. Currently Mr. Vowels is the Vice President for Education Services for the NCAA.
Dr. William E. Lide (2003-2008)
Dr. William E. Lide served as Commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 2003-2008. Prior to his appointment, Lide served as Athletic Director at the University of Central Arkansas. He received his bachelor’s degree from Johnson C. Smith University in 1973 and a master’s from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1976. He earned his doctorate in physical education and administration from The Ohio State University in 1980. The Darlington, S.C., native began his career as an assistant football coach and head track coach at Eastville, Va., High School, and after a brief stint as a wide receiver with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, he became an assistant football coach at his alma mater, Johnson C. Smith. He spent two years at Ohio State, one as a graduate assistant under Woody Hayes and another as an academic counselor, while working on his Ph.D, and then returned to Johnson C. Smith as director of athletics, chairman of the department of physical education and tennis coach. He is a member of the Johnson C. Smith Sports Hall of Fame and a member of the All Pro Countdown Team of the CFL as a former player for the Calgary Stampeders. Dr. Lide has 4 children, Desiree’, Amber, Lindsey, and Kristin.
* Wallace Jackson was the first Full-Time Commissioner. Prior to Commissioner Jackson the commissioners served on a part-time basis.