Bob Condron, who retired from the U.S. Olympic Committee on Jan. 26, 2012, as longtime director for media and public relations, will be honored as recipient of the prestigious Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award as well as a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award this summer at the national convention in St. Louis, Mo. The Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award is presented to an individual who, or an organization which, has made a lasting contribution to intercollegiate athletics, has demonstrated a long and consistent commitment to excellence and has been a loyal supporter of CoSIDA and its mission. Keith Jackson is widely known as the "voice of college football" after his more than 40 years of work, covering college football for ABC. Jackson has also had a long association with CoSIDA including serving as the keynote speaker at the 1995 CoSIDA Workshop in Denver. Condron is only the eighth recipient of the prestigious Jackson Award, as the honor is not automatically presented each year. He is the first Keith Jackson recipient since former NCAA President Myles Brand (deceased) was honored in 2009. Condron will be recognized for his 28 years of service to the USOC from 1983-2012 in addition to serving as the Assistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director at Southern Methodist University from 1971-83 and assistant sports information director at Texas Tech from 1968-71. The Waco, Texas native was inducted into the College Sports Information Director’s Hall of Fame in 2004 and was honored by the All-American Football Foundation with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. "All who know Bob realize that he is the definition of this award’s criteria," said Peter Kowalski, former CoSIDA president (1997-98), who now serves as director of championship communications for the U.S. Golf Association. "No PR person I have worked with has more a sense of people and situation than Bob and no one understands the service angle better than him. He is internationally known as an unparalleled PR guy. He maintains relationships and that is why he is truly deserving of the award, which reflects a commitment to intercollegiate athletics." Condron joined the USOC on Jan. 2, 1984, planning and directing the media services for Team USA and U.S. delegation for 15 Olympic Games since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. He has also served at seven Pan American Games, 11 U.S. Olympic Festivals and countless Olympic Trials, World University Games, Paralympic Games, World Cups and international championships. He has directed the Olympic Games accreditation process for United States media for the past 10 years, developing a relationship with the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) in deciding what U.S. organizations get what credentials to cover the Olympics. Condron was instrumental in fulfilling a blueprint Mike Moran had in mind when he served as longtime managing director for media and public relations for the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1978-2003. "He was my first hire and grasped what I had in mind when we brought him aboard. Bob has a great personality and was very much admired by writers and broadcasters," said Moran, who was inducted into the 2005 CoSIDA Hall of Fame. "Our goals were to make it easier for writers and broadcasters to cover the Olympics. The by-product was to create a lot more publicity and exposure for American athletes. The world was very different at that time (1984) because the Olympic athletes didn't get very much coverage until every fourth year when the games came along. In between there was very little." Condron recruited thousands of sports information personnel and professional volunteers to travel the world as press officers for the USOC working Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games and U.S. Olympic Festivals. "Bob did so much for CoSIDA members during his time at the U.S. Olympic Committee," added Rick Brewer, the longtime sports information director at North Carolina who served as president of CoSIDA in 1995-96. "In his role in media relations he was able to get numerous SIDs the experience of participating in the Olympic Games. "I think one reason Bob was always anxious to get SIDs on his staff was he was at heart still an SID himself. I don’t believe he ever lost his love for working on a college campus. His knowledge of the sports information profession made him realize SIDs could make up the hardest-working staff he could have." Moran lauded the preparation and work Condron did in making a top-notch operation look professional, smooth and seamless. Over the years, Condron kept fine-tuning the media services setup at the Olympics, helping the USOC media staff earn the reputation as the best in the world. Through his leadership, Condron made sure the USOC was a world wide leader in utilizing various media technological innovations to spread the word of Team USA in a positive manner. He helpedprepare Team USA's athletes with interview seminars and media summits in advance of the Olympics. "Bob was sensitive to the media's needs at the Olympics and interjected a tremendous amount of humor and personal amount of attention," Moran added. "It was such a relief to know that whenever there were huge obstacles for the media to overcome at the Games, Bob would always be there for them in trying to solve problems. "The U.S. media enjoyed covering the Olympics because they all knew Bob would produce basically a home away from home. You could go to the USOC press office for a conversation, help, get an interview or whatever you needed. It made the media's job easier and made countless friends for the U.S. around the world. This friendship lasted well beyond the Games for the USOC and for this country.†Condron's knowledge, easy manner and sense of humor made him one of the most popular individuals with sports media in the United States and around the world, "There is no more decent human being on this earth than Bob," said highly respected Olympic journalist Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune. "And he manages to stay that way no matter the stress, personal or professional, or the situation. No one gets more accomplished with less drama than Bob. For three decades, he has been the go-to-guy for everyone in the U.S. media covering the Olympics." Condron has been a member of the International Olympic Press Committee (IOC) Press Commission since 2003, a committee that approves and counsels Olympic Organizing Committees on media operations and services for the Olympic Games. He was one of only two USOC staff members serving on an IOC Commission, the other being CEO Scott Blackmun who was appointed last year to an IOC Commission. He has been named to various special committees by the IOC, including the awarding of media accreditation to the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) for the 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 Olympic Games; a committee which studied the IOC’s information distribution for the Olympic Games; and was named chair of a committee on restructuring the operations of media mixed zones and venue interview opportunities at the Games. "Bob Condron has been a pillar of the Olympic movement for more than 25 years," said Anthony Edgar, head of media operations for the International Olympic Committee. "The U.S. media, and I personally will sorely miss his straight talking Texas style and irreplaceable experience in London 2012. There is none more deserving than Bob for this prestigious recognition." Condron was the United States delegate for the Association of International Sports Press for six years, in addition to organizing the AIPS International Congress in New York City in 2004. From 1984-99 during his tenure at the USOC Condron was active in the production of The Olympian magazine, progressively serving as assistant editor, managing editor, editor and editorial director. Condron is a member of the national board of directors of the Texas Tech University College of Mass Communications where he graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was a member of the first graduate class in journalism at Texas Tech and later completed post graduate work at Southern Methodist University. In 1999, Condron was named an Outstanding Alumni of Texas Tech's School of Mass Communications, and in 2009 he was inducted into the College of Mass Communications Hall of Fame. Following graduation from Texas Tech, Condron was a sportswriter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (1967-69) before pursuing his career in sports media relations. Condron serves on numerous sport and media advisory committees and has been a volunteer media official for The International Golf tournament in Castle Rock, Colo., for nine years. He was also a volunteer official for the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament in Dallas for eight years and was a member of the USGA’s media staff for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open in Colorado Springs. He will join the USGA staff this summer for the U.S. Men’s Open in San Francisco. He has been involved in many of the NCAA championship tournaments and events, including basketball, track and field, golf, soccer, swimming and tennis. While at SMU, he served as media director for the 1982 Cotton Bowl game and the 1980 Holiday Bowl game. Condron served as mentor for several aspiring professionals in the sports media relations field including former CoSIDA Presidents Maxey Parrish (1998-99) and Alan Cannon (2002-03). Parrish was an assistant SID under Condron at SMU and is now an adjunct professor at Baylor. "I was fortunate to be a 17-year high school senior when Bob was the SID at SMU. One of the things I appreciate the most about Bob was how he trained and then trusted his assistants and interns," said Cannon, who is the associate athletic director for media relations at Texas A&M. "He made sure you were well-prepared, but then let you do your job. "He will be missed by many media members and many CoSIDA members, but he has left an indelible mark on our profession for many years to come." Bob’s son, Mark, is a senior producer for The Golf Channel in Orlando, Fla. In the past three years Bob has lost a wife (Betty Jane) and a son (Chris) but will begin chapter two in his retired life with a marriage to Lynette Ryden of Colorado Springs this month. Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award Recipients 2012 Bob Condron (USOC) 2011 none 2010 none 2009 Myles Brand (NCAA President) 2008 Dick Vitale (ESPN) 2007 none 2006 none 2005 Jim Albright (Kodak) 2004 none 2003 Rosa Gatti (ESPN) 2002 none 2001 Dick Enberg (CBS) 2000 none 1999 GTE Corporation 1998 Keith Jackson (ABC Sports)