Ivy Williamson

Ivan B. "Ivy" Williamson (February 4, 1911 – February 19, 1969) was a player and coach of American football and basketball, and a college athletics administrator. He played college football and basketball at the University of Michigan from 1930 to 1932 and was captain of the national champion 1932 Michigan football team. He was an assistant football coach at Yale University (1934–1941, 1945–1946) and the head football coach at Lafayette College (1947–1948) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1949–1955). He served as the athletic director at Wisconsin from 1955 to 1969.

Early life and playing career Williamson was born and grew up near Toledo, Ohio in Prairie Depot, now known as Wayne, Ohio.

Michigan Williamson attended the University of Michigan, where he played basketball and football. He won two varsity letters in basketball and three in football. Williamson graduated from the University of Michigan in 1933 with distinction and received the Gold Medal award from the university president as "the outstanding gentleman, athlete and scholar in the Class of 1933."

Coaching career High school coach After graduating from Michigan in 1933, Williamson taught economics and history and coached basketball and football at Roseville High School in Roseville, Michigan. He was assigned to coach a Navy football team in 1942 with Potsy Clark at Pensacola, Florida. Williamson immediately turned the program around, leading the team to a 6–3 record in 1947 and 7–2 in 1948. He again took over a program with a losing record, as the Badgers finished 2–7 the year before Williamson was hired. The team steadily improved in the first three years under Williamson, finishing 5–3–1 in 1949, 6–3 in 1950, and 7–1–1 in 1951. In 1953, the Saturday Evening Post published an article on Williamson titled, "That Gentlemanly Coach at Wisconsin." The article's author, Harry Paxton, wrote: "Ivy Williamson is a big, unruffled Midwesterner from a small Ohio farm town. He speaks mildly and calmly. He never dramatizes himself, but somehow with him seems to get a feeling that here is a nice, honest fellow with a good head on his shoulders. He has a natural gift for winning and keeping the confidence of all sorts of people—alumni and other boosters; faculty and school officials, players and prospective players." He was replaced as head football coach by Milt Bruhn. Due to a university policy providing that the athletic director could not be paid a salary higher than that of the dean, the move to athletic director came with a salary cut from $15,300 to $13,500.

During Williamson's 13 years as athletic director, he increased the capacity of Camp Randall Stadium to 77,000 with the construction of an upper deck, expanded intramural facilities, restored men's ice hockey as a varsity sport, and built a new natatorium, a new baseball field and a running track. In December 1957, Williamson was one of 25 former college football players chosen by Sports Illustrated for its silver anniversary All-American team honoring players with outstanding career and community service records. In January 1963, Williamson was elected permanent chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee.

The football program continued to thrive into the early 1960s, but went into a steep decline later in the decade, finishing 8–19 from 1964 to 1966 and then having consecutive winless seasons in 1967 and 1968.

Firing and death In January 1969, after five straight losing seasons and with the athletic department having a deficit, Williamson was fired as Wisconsin's athletic director at age 57. He was reassigned to a new position in the school of physical education with a reduction in salary from $23,000 to $18,800. He was described by those who knew him as "a man crushed in spirit" after his removal as athletic director. He was taken by ambulance to the University Hospital in Madison, where he was pronounced dead. He was survived by his wife, Beulah, and twin sons, Jack and David.

Head coaching record College football