Calder Knows Scott Is "Tough Act to Follow"


New athletic director 
replaces legend who 
won 7 lacross titles


By Dennis O'Shea

     The first words out of Tom Calder's mouth after Bob Scott
introduced him as the new Johns Hopkins director of athletics
were right to the point:
     That's a hard act to follow."
     Calder knows he's drawn a tough assignment. Starting July 1,
he succeeds the legendary "Scotty," a man who has sat in the
Hopkins AD's chair for 21 years and who--in more than 46 years at
the university--won seven national championships in lacrosse,
coached 42 first-team all-Americans, and built a highly
competitive athletic program with 27 men's, women's and co-ed
varsity teams.
     "If Scotty wanted to run for governor, it'd be a close
election," Calder said. "He's left everything in place. ... We're
just going to take off from where he's taken us."
     As far as Scott is concerned, there's no one he'd rather
have pick up where he leaves off. He said he knew that from the
beginning and is grateful that, after a national search, Homewood
student affairs dean Larry Benedict and a search committee led by
dean of students Susan Boswell agreed with him.
     "Tom has achieved wonderful things wherever he has been,"
Scott said of Calder, whom he brought to Hopkins seven years ago
as associate director. "I just couldn't be happier or feel better
about where we are right now with Tom as the new athletic
director."
     Calder, a 1975 Hofstra graduate, was team captain and a
two-time lacrosse all-American there and played on coaching
legend Howdy Myers' final lacrosse and football squads.
Coincidentally, Scott, a 1952 Hopkins graduate, was a member of
the final football squad of Myers' pre-Hofstra tenure at
Homewood.
     After coaching at Roanoke College and earning a master's in
sports adminstration at Ohio University, Calder became assistant
ticket manager and then assistant director of games operations at
the University of North Carolina, where he was also a lacrosse
assistant under Hopkins alumnus Willie Scroggs. He later served
as a legislative assistant at the NCAA and assistant director of
athletics at Bloomsburg University, before joining the Hopkins
athletic department in 1988.
     Calder, 41, said he aims to continue building the Hopkins
athletic program into the best in the nation among highly
selective, similarly sized schools in NCAA Division III, the
non-scholarship level at which the university competes in all
sports except men's lacrosse.
     He said he also wants to build exposure for Hopkins teams,
athletes and coaches, in the news media, around the university
and in athletic circles.
     Calder also said he will continue to press to raise funds
for a new recreation center, a facility that would benefit all
faculty, staff and students, not just intercollegiate teams.
Scott, he said, will remain with the university on a part-time
basis after his retirement to help in the area of athletic alumni
relations.
     "You're only as good as your staff, and Scotty got us the
right coaching staff and the right administrative staff," Calder
said. "I just have to keep things going in the right direction."