Walk into Jerry Artz’s office and you instantly know you are dealing with a person of varied interests. As befits a longtime physics professor, there are papers stacked on his desk that needed correcting. There is a scholarly physics treatise prominently displayed.
Look a little closer, though, and you see a framed picture of 1970s/80s tennis star Jimmy Connors. There is also a framed drawing of former Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens.
Artz, who has been teaching at Hamline since 1977, is in his 19th year serving as the Faculty Athletic Representative for Hamline athletics during the 2024-25 academic year. It’s a role that requires many hats, ranging from periodic meetings with AD Jason Verdugo and university president Dr. Fayneese Miller, to serving as Hamline's representative at national conventions.
The Dayton, Ohio native also participates in the searches for athletic department administrators and coaches and reviews all information connected to the academic wellbeing of Hamline’s 500+ student-athletes. In addition, Artz oversees the faculty sponsors who work with each of the 20 sports Hamline offers. This is the eighth year of the faculty sponsorship program.
It’s a heavy workload, but Artz is no stranger to such things. As an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, Artz hoped to following the footsteps of Tony Trabert, a 1952 Bearcat alum, as a tennis player. But he found his school workload too heavy, so he concentrated on academics only. Artz, however, never lost his zeal for tennis. He still plays often and in 2014 he won the Minnesota state tennis championship in both singles and doubles in his age group.
In addition to his undergraduate work, Artz has degrees from Stanford and Florida State. He has done post-doctoral work at the University of Minnesota and served as visiting professor at Notre Dame. On three occasions, the HU Student Congress has named him winner of the “Outstanding Teacher Award.”
At Hamline, Artz served as the tennis club advisor in 1988, and along with Hamline alum John Alchemy, worked with a group to bring MIAC tennis back to Hamline. He has served as the tennis faculty sponsor for the past eight years.
When not in the classroom, in his office, or on the tennis court, Artz can be seen in attendance at Hamline athletic contests.
AD Jason Verdugo on Jerry Artz:
“We are very fortunate to have Jerry as our FAR. He brings years of experience and tremendous passion for Hamline’s student-athletes. Jerry has been a pleasure to work with and our collaboration will serve our department well for years to come. I’m particularly pleased with his commitment to take the lead on the Athletics-Faculty sponsorship program. Jerry truly embodies everything that is great about our university.”
