Bob Roller, who begins his fifth year as director of athletics at Samford, has been at the helm during a period of changes of the athletics lanscape-literally and figuratively.

Roller was named the school's third full-time athletics director in May 1999 and immediately implemented a plan to upgrade Samford's athletic facilities through private fund-raising efforts.

Additionally, he announced a need for all 17 men's and women's intercollegiate sports at Samford to have an athletics conference to call their own. That goal was realized in May of 2001 when the University announced it would join the Ohio Valley Conference by the summer of 2003 for all sports.

The move marked the first time in the 162-year history of Samford University that all sports will play in the same athletics conference. In joining the nation's eighth-oldest NCAA Division I conference, the Bulldogs have opportunities for conference championships in all sports and a constant schedule of rivals within the Tennessee/Kentucky region.

The athletics facility upgrades have been swift during his tenure. More than $2 million has been raised for projects ranging from new strength and conditioning equipment to an eight-lane outdoor track and construction of Joe Lee Griffen Field for Samford baseball.

"What we're continually striving for within our athletics department is to unify all of our 300-plus student-athletes in our 17 sports," Roller said. "The move to the Ohio Valley Conference allows our student-athletes to identify with the same conference rivals annually. Our facility upgrades need to be constant, because if you're standing still with an NCAA Division I athletics program, you're falling behind."

All of these accomplishments have taken place while Samford has maintained high academic standards. The school has won the prestigious Atlantic Sun Academic Champion trophy two of the past four academic years. More than 51 percent of all Samford student-athletes were named All-Academic this past year in the Atlantic Sun.

Roller came to the Homewood campus in 1997 to direct the Samford Athletic Foundation. During the first two years, the foundation saw record growth in individual and corporate donations to the University's athletics programs. He held that position until May 1999, when Samford President Thomas E. Corts named him to the top position within the athletics department.

"We are fortunate to have Bob Roller lead out athletics programs," Corts said. "He has extensive experience in athletics - and that experience has been greatly enhanced by his previous roles organizing major athletics events, fund raising and marketing. He has an appreciation for the total academic environment and how athletics fits into the total educational experience at Samford."

Last summer, Roller was elected to the prestigious executive committee of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics [NACDA] to serve a four-year term. He joined athletics directors from Kansas State, Stanford, Army and Clemson on the governing committee that oversees the activities of the 6,000-plus member organization.

A veteran of more than 20 years in intercollegiate athletics, Roller has earned a reputation as an outstanding fund raiser and a leader with an eye on the future. Throughout his career, he has been active on the national level, working closely with college administrators, head coaches and national media.

Prior to his arrival at Samford, Roller was vice president of AdCraft Sports Marketing in Louisville, Ky., for seven years. During that time, he helped create the Sears Collegiate Champions program, which honors all champions of men's and women's sports throughout the nation at every level of college athletics.

While with AdCraft, a division of Host Communications, Inc., Roller created and managed a publishing division and helped launch NCAA Football USA, which involved promotions, licensing and merchandising for college football programs at all levels of intercollegiate athletics.

Roller was director of communications for the Orange Bowl Committee in Miami, Fla., from 1988 to 1991. He was with the Orange Bowl when Federal Express became the first title sponsor in 1989. He directed the entire media operations for two consecutive national championship games, including the 1990 Notre Dame-Colorado game that saw a record 1,350 media credentials issued to members of the national and international press corps.

The Pearisburg, Va., native began his career in sports information. He earned his degree in communications and journalism from Virginia Tech in 1983 and worked as a student assistant in the sports information office for four years. He was the sports information director at UNC-Wilmington and East Carolina University from 1983 to 1988

While at UNC-Wilmington, Roller, 42, was also executive director of the university's athletic fund-raising program.

Roller holds a master's degree in education administration from Samford.

His wife Julie, has been a minister to children at two Birmingham-area churches for the past five years. They have one son, Brad, 18, who is a senior in high school.