July 21, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
With 10 years of event management experience, Robb Vessely was a natural choice for Illinois State Director of Athletics Dr. Sheahon Zenger as Vessely joins the Redbird staff as the assistant athletics director for facilities and operations, a position that has been vacant for over a year.
"We are really excited about adding someone of Robb's caliber to our staff," Zenger said. "He will bring a unique blend of experience and personality to this position and he is really looking forward to being a part of this institution. Illinois State is a program that he had on his radar screen, and we are just excited about bringing someone in with that attitude and experience."
Vessely agrees that it didn't take long for the lure of Illinois State to kick in.
"During the interview process I was really impressed with the facilities and the vision that Sheahon has for the department," Vessely said. "But the thing that impressed me the most was the people. The staff and the community is really inviting and it just seems like a great fit for me. I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to work at Illinois State."
Vessely, a native of North Judson, Ind., joins the Redbird staff after his second stint at Valparaiso. Recently with the Crusaders, Vessely served as the assistant athletic director for facility and event management for the last two years. In addition to managing the athletic facilities, Vessely coordinated events for the department, including Mid-Continent Conference championships and the men's basketball game against Duke in the United Center in Chicago.
During the 2002-03 season, Vessely was the events coordinator at Xavier where he managed the logistics of athletic and special events at the Cintas Center, a 10,000-seat facility. At Xavier, he also assisted clients in planning their events in the arena, while also working with promoters on bringing outside acts onto campus.
With earning his master's degree in athletic administration, Vessely worked two years at Indiana as the assistant for event and ticket operations. He completed his degree in 2001, while also gaining more experience managing facilities and supervising events.
Vessely, who officially starts at ISU on August 8, began his athletic career at Valparaiso serving as the director of events and marketing from 1995-2000, after earning his bachelor's degree in sport administration from Ball State in 1994. He ranked as the top student in both his graduate and undergraduate major with a perfect 4.0 grade point average on each.
