{"id":193792,"date":"2022-01-04T08:23:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T13:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=193792"},"modified":"2024-08-05T14:22:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T18:22:49","slug":"in-memoriam-professor-emeritus-william-servedio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/01\/in-memoriam-professor-emeritus-william-servedio\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus William Servedio"},"content":{"rendered":"

William \u201cBill\u201d Servedio, associate professor emeritus and a former department head at the Neag School, passed away on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Read his obituary<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The following story, which was originally published in January 2021, is\u00a0reshared\u00a0here in his honor.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Having always practiced what he preached as a professor, advisor, and coach, William \u201cBill\u201d Servedio is someone who walks the walk. Perhaps more accurately, the Neag School Professor Emeritus runs the run; he appears to have spent most every day of his 78 years moving at full tilt. And in recently establishing a scholarship fund for Neag School sport management students<\/a> in addition to taking part in virtual discussions with alumni from the program, he clearly has no intention of slowing down.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, Servedio excelled in four different sports \u2014 track, baseball, basketball, and football. His longtime goal: to be a college coach.<\/p>\n

By age 16, he was on his own, working construction, painting houses, and serving as a mail carrier in order to afford college \u2014 starting at Orange County Community College, where he played basketball and was named a Junior College All-American in soccer, and then at Springfield College, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Heading next to University of Bridgeport for graduate school, Servedio completed his master\u2019s in one year while serving as a graduate assistant, teaching physical education classes, and coaching soccer as well as tennis.<\/p>\n

\n

I didn\u2019t want to say five years down the road, \u2018What if I didn\u2019t try? — Professor Emeritus William Servedio<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Servedio\u2019s unstoppable energy has served him particularly well in his chosen field. During his earliest days of professionally coaching soccer, cross-country, and track and field at colleges in Vermont and Illinois, he was responsible for everything from lining the fields to washing the athletes\u2019 uniforms at the local laundromat \u2014 without support from assistant coaches or graduate assistants so common today in college athletics.<\/p>\n

\"Professor
William Servedio, left, celebrates Commencement at Gampel Pavilion in 1991 with graduate Jay Moran, recently appointed\u00a0vice president of athletics at the University of Bridgeport. (Courtesy of Bill Servedio)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually recruited as head soccer coach for The Ohio State University, Servedio was offered the opportunity to pursue his doctorate there, with one catch: If he failed to complete his Ph.D. within seven years, the university would ask him to leave. Servedio relished the challenge. Coaching full time, he carried out his doctoral studies part time while at one point also managing a 76-apartment complex. Although he still loved coaching, his end goal shifted \u2014 from coaching, to coaching and teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really needed to try to combine them, so that when I was ready to get out of coaching at any school, I could always stay on academically,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t want to say five years down the road, \u2018What if I didn\u2019t try?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That attitude of determination is reflective not only of all that Servedio has accomplished in his career, but also the kind of supportive, go-getter advice he has imparted over the course of his career as a coach, professor, advisor, mentor, and colleague.<\/p>\n

\u2018He Gave Me a Shot\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cDr. Servedio is the reason I was able to find my true passion of what I wanted to do professionally,\u201d attests one of his many former students, Lisa (Senofonte) Zerio \u201988 MA, director of the Glastonbury (Conn.) Parks and Recreation Department. \u201cHis faith in me to succeed, his continual support and guidance, while always holding me accountable \u2026 lit that fire in my belly that I had it in me to be the best I could be, no matter what I was setting out to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sean Lester \u201996 MA, today the deputy athletics director at the University of Kansas, similarly credits Servedio with shaping his career path. The first in his family to have earned a four-year undergraduate degree, Lester says he had not planned on graduate school. But after gaining experience working in UConn Athletics, Lester was offered a graduate assistantship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have the best grades in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cBut Doc Servedio gave me a shot as a provisional student. When somebody gives you a shot on the field, you make the best of it because you want to stay on the field, on the court, in the pool, wherever you\u2019re competing. You want to make the most of it. And Doc Servedio gave me a shot. Without that shot, you know, I\u2019m not the deputy athletics director at the University of Kansas \u2014\u00a0and that\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Doc Servedio gave me a shot. Without that shot, you know, I\u2019m not the deputy athletics director at the University of Kansas \u2014 and that\u2019s the truth. — Sean Lester \u201996 MA, Deputy Athletics Director, University of Kansas<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2018I Had to Hustle\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Servedio found his way to UConn\u2019s faculty in 1976, initially assuming he would seek his next career move within five years. But as he puts it, \u201cThen five years became 10, 10 became 20, 20 became 30.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the nearly three decades he spent at what would become known as the Neag School of Education, Servedio taught courses in the realm of management, sport, and recreational services, and advised many dozens of students. When UConn was named host of the 1984 Special Olympics, Servedio also volunteered for several summers as the University\u2019s Special Olympics chairman, overseeing everything from facilities to catering for an event that annually drew 10,000 people to Storrs. Tapped interim department head around that same time, Servedio officially became department head in 1987, a role he embraced for another 12 years.<\/p>\n

Perhaps among his greatest triumphs is having launched UConn\u2019s sport management program, which has attracted promising students from around the world. Initially establishing the bachelor\u2019s degree roughly three decades ago, Servedio eventually oversaw the program\u2019s development at the master\u2019s and doctoral levels as well. At the time, UConn\u2019s degree programs in this area stood out as the first of their kind in Connecticut and one of the first in New England. Servedio had single-handedly dedicated more than a year to securing the state\u2019s approval, submitting preliminary curriculum, promoting the program, then heading up most of the courses while finding adjunct faculty to help pick up the teaching load. His expertise in the area also led to invitations to consult on legal cases involving college and recreational athletics in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Illinois.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to hustle,\u201d says Servedio \u2014 as if he hadn\u2019t been doing so all along.<\/p>\n

Walking the Walk<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a professor, Servedio always told his students to be punctual. He himself lives by the adage, \u201cIf you\u2019re on time, you\u2019re late.\u201d Urging students to \u201cput the hours in,\u201d he, in turn, was often the last administrator to leave the building each evening. He advised his students to look professional, making it a point to wear a suit whenever he taught class.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
\u201cI always felt like he had my best interests in mind,\u201d UConn baseball coach Jim Penders \u201994 (CLAS), \u201998 MA says of William Servedio. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe treated you like an adult; he didn\u2019t talk down to you,\u201d says Jim Penders \u201994 (CLAS), \u201998 MA, UConn baseball head coach and alumnus of the sport management master\u2019s program under Servedio. \u201cI always felt like he had my best interests in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lesson I learned from him was about respect,\u201d says Lester of University of Kansas. \u201cRespect everybody you encounter, always. You never know who they are and when you may encounter them again in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above all, Servedio emphasized for his students the need to make connections in the industry. Thanks to the relationships he himself had fostered across campus, Servedio was able to set up sport management students with meaningful internship experiences from the start. He saw the internship \u2014\u00a0which evolved from a short summertime stint into a semester-long, six-credit placement \u2014 as critical to each student\u2019s future, and held high expectations not only of the interns, but also their supervisors. During summers, he even made trips to each in- and out-of-state placement site to meet with supervisors, see facilities, and understand what interns would be taking on during their time there.<\/p>\n

\u2018My Life\u2019s Work\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t mention UConn sport management without Dr. Servedio,\u201d says Jamelle Elliott \u201996 (BUS), \u201998 MA<\/a>, another sport management master\u2019s graduate and now assistant coach of the UConn women\u2019s basketball team. \u201cDr. Servedio was someone who cared passionately about his students. The requirements expected of you, the internships being one of them, that was clear from the very beginning \u2013 he didn\u2019t play around with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

You can\u2019t mention UConn sport management without Dr. Servedio. — Jamelle Elliott \u201996 (BUS), \u201998 MA, Assistant Coach, UConn Women\u2019s Basketball<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Today, 17 years after Servedio officially retired from UConn, the sport management internship remains a program cornerstone and enduring example of his vision and innovation. In addition to placements across UConn and other university-level athletics offices, sport management students take placements in fundraising, event management, and operations at such high-profile organizations and venues as the NFL, the Connecticut Sun, Madison Square Garden, EPSN, the United States Tennis Association, and the NCAA National Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a residency for an MD. It\u2019s like student teaching,\u201d Servedio says of the internship component. \u201cYou need to get a taste of what it\u2019s going to be like. It\u2019s like taking your first job as a teacher and then finding out you don\u2019t like kids. This gives you that opportunity to make a decision, where you get some hands-on experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always talked about value added,\u201d he adds. \u201cYou\u2019ve always got to give a little bit more than is expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

While stressing to students the importance of going above and beyond in their role, he also strove to assign them relevant placements.<\/p>\n

Coach Penders\u2019 graduate assistantship, for instance, centered on UConn Athletics fundraising. \u201cI still do that every day,\u201d Penders says. \u201cIn my job, you have to be fundraising or recruiting every day, or you\u2019re not going to be coaching very long. It was really good background in what I would need to do. I can\u2019t even imagine where I\u2019d be without [Servedio\u2019s] wise counsel. He set me on a course for what\u2019s become my life\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jamelle
While in the sport management graduate program at the Neag School, Jamelle Elliott \u201996 (BUS), \u201997 MA served as a graduate assistant in the UConn Athletics Business Office. \u201c[It] really gave me, for the first time, real-life professional experience,\u201d she says. (Nathan Oldham\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>As a graduate assistant in the UConn Athletics Business Office, Coach Elliott says she was able to apply knowledge from her undergraduate accounting degree in addition to working with UConn women\u2019s basketball and on-campus girls\u2019 basketball summer camps.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] really gave me, for the first time, real-life professional experience while also continuing my studies and achieving my master\u2019s degree,\u201d she says. \u201cFor him, it was about \u2026 allowing us to really get out there and learn something to prepare us for what was next after we graduated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lester, too, recalls Servedio\u2019s powerful advice: \u201cThere is no replacement for real-life experiences. That was the greatest, strongest piece of advice he instilled \u2013 not just for me. So many people have to thank Doc Servedio. We owe so much to him. Simple words aren\u2019t enough. He should know the impact he\u2019s had.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a\u00a0dedicated scholarship fund in his name<\/a>\u00a0now in place to support sport management students into the future, Servedio\u00a0continues to focus not on what he personally accomplished, but what those around him have done.<\/p>\n

For one, he is\u00a0quick to credit\u00a0\u201cthe love and support\u201d of Marjorie, his wife of 55 years, with the the success he has achieved. \u201cUnfortunately, Majorie passed this October after a valiant fight against many debilitating illnesses,\u201d he says. Both their children, Michael of Storrs, Connecticut, and Suzanne of Tolland, Connecticut, are UConn graduates.<\/p>\n

He also points to the success of his past students.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not what you\u2019ve left behind,\u201d he says of his career. \u201cIf there are students out there doing an outstanding job, that\u2019s your legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

To support the Professor Emeritus William M. Servedio Scholarship Fund, <\/em><\/strong>visit the UConn Foundation\u2019s website<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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