Truman State University Athletics

Walter Ryle has been a Bulldog his entire life. Ryle was a history professor on campus starting in 1955 and became chair of the Athletics Committee in 1973. From there, Ryle represented the university at Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association meetings and served as the league’s vice-president from 1985-1988 and then president of the conference from 1988-1991. During his presidency, the league endured one of their biggest expansion periods, hired a full-time commissioner and renamed the league to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Ryle agreed to become Director of Athletics in 1994 and he oversaw the department’s 21 programs for the next five years. He was instrumental in the upgrade and construction of the Kenneth Gardner all-weather track at Stokes Stadium. Ryle was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame in June.