Kenneth G. Germann, a standout football and basketball player at Columbia who returned to his alma mater as a coach and then as athletics director, passed away on Wednesday, August 24, in Glen Ellen, Va., due to heart failure. He was 84.
Germann served as Director of Physical Education and Intercollegiate Athletics at Columbia from 1968 until December 1973. In addition to guiding Columbia Athletics through a turbulent period for the University in the late 1960s, he was a key figure in the drive for a new gymnasium on the Morningside Heights campus, which culminated in the opening of the Marcellus Hartley Dodge Physical Fitness Center in December 1974.
He had come from Rutgers, where he spent seven years as assistant director of athletics and head lightweight football coach. When he was named to succeed Ralph Furey at Columbia, he was overjoyed.
"It's always a thrill when you're invited back to your alma mater," Germann said when the appointment was announced. "To go back is a lifelong dream come true."
A native of Garden City Park, Long Island, Germann came to Columbia in the fall of 1939, after a standout scholastic career at Long Island's Sewanhaka High, where he was all-scholastic in four different sports. He was a three-year starter on Columbia's football teams, as a wing back and punter, starring for teams which defeated the likes of Georgia, Wisconsin and Princeton.
An excellent receiver -- the burly Germann was one of All-American quarterback Paul Governali's favorite receivers -- he also was a standout punter. In 1941, he averaged 41.6 yards per punt, a Columbia record that still stands, more than 60 years later. Germann also played two years of varsity basketball at Columbia, starting as a senior, when he averaged 7.9 points per game and tallied a game-high 19 to pace a 61-59 victory over Princeton.
Following his 1943 graduation, Germann was drafted by clubs in two professional football leagues, the Buffalo Bills of the All American Conference and the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He signed with Buffalo, but first entered the U.S. Marine Corps, serving three years and rising to the rank of captain.
In 1945, he helped to coach the Fleet Marine Force football team under NFL star Cliff Battles. Inspired by the experience, he decided to forego his contract with Buffalo and go into coaching. He was hired as head football coach and athletics director at Iona Prep shortly after his 1946 discharge, and spent 11 years there. Germann was named Westchester County Coach of the Year that season and the Catholic High School League Coach of the Year in 1954. He was a frequent visitor to Columbia, obtaining a master's degree from Teachers College. In 1957, Germann returned for a four-year term as head freshman football coach before moving to Rutgers.
Germann relinquished the athletics directorship at Columbia in December 1973 to become commissioner of the Southern Conference. In 14 years at the helm of the organization, he greatly expanded women's athletics in the Conference -- the award for overall performance by Southern Conference women's athletics programs is called the Germann Cup -- and was instrumental in establishing rifle as an NCAA sport. He retired in 1987.
Germann is survived by his wife, Ruth, a son, Kenneth, and two daughters, Kathe Henke and Debby Baker. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Casey and Eric Germann, and Debra Henke.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, August 31, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Glen Ellen. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the American Cancer Society.
