ITHACA, N.Y. -- Charlie Moore '51, an Olympic gold medalist who went on to set Cornell athletics on firm footing as athletic director, passed away on Thursday, Oct. 8. The impact on his family, the Big Red, and the sporting and business worlds will long be told.
A fierce competitor on the track, he never lost a race in the 400-meter hurdles during his outstanding career that included a gold medal in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. Moore set an Olympic record of 50.8 seconds on a rain-soaked track. He also won a silver medal as the third leg on the 4x400 relay team for the United States. Moore later established a world record of 51.6 in the 440-yard hurdles at the British Empire Games in London. He set Cornell marks in the outdoor 440-yard dash (47.0) and the 400-meter intermediate hurdles (51.1). In 1949, he won the 440-yard dash at the NCAA championships, and in 1951, he helped a five-man Big Red team place second at the NCAAs with a first-place finish in the 220 low hurdles. Moore won indoor Heptagonal titles in the 600-yard run and outdoor titles in the 440-yard dash in 1950 and '51. He took first in the AAU 400-meter hurdles in 1949 and set the American record (50.7) at the Olympic tryouts in 1952. The native of Coatesville, Pa., received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1952.
Moore finished second in the balloting for the Sullivan Award in 1952, the highest finish ever by a Cornellian. He was inducted as part of the inaugural Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame in 1978, and the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award at his alma mater is named in his honor. In 1996, Moore was named one of 100 Golden Olympians to recognize the country's greatest living competitors and was honored in the Opening Ceremonies of the games in Atlanta. In 1999, he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
He returned to Cornell in 1994 as Director of Athletics, promising to act as an agent of change and vowing to stay only five years. He did just that. He hired 21 of the 30 head coaches in the department at the time. He built or enhanced facilities throughout the athletics footprint, including the Friedman Wrestling Center, the Friedman Strength and Conditioning Center, the Kane Sports Complex for track and soccer, new outdoor tennis courts by the Reis Tennis Center, an upgraded Oxley Equestrian Center, Niemand*Robison Softball Field and Stifel Fencing Salle, among others.
From 1992-94, Moore was vice chairman of Advisory Capital Partners and chairman of the fund's advisory board. Prior to that he was president and chief executive officer of Ransburg Corp., and also served as executive vice president of Illinois Tool Works Inc. He was managing director of Peers & Co., an investment banking firm, and from 1981 to 1986 was president and chief executive officer of Clevepak Corp., a paper packaging company.
Among other positions and titles he held, he was a director of Turner Corp., Elcotel Inc. and Fundamental Management Corp. He was the former president, chief executive officer and governor of The National Art Museum of Sport; trustee of Butler University; member of the Operations Management Advisory Board of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business; member of the national board of the Smithsonian Institution and member of the U.S. International Sports Committee. He was the recipient of the Herbert Adams Memorial Award for Advancement of American Sculpture. Moore served as chairman of the Audit Committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee and was a member of the Cornell University Council, the executive committee of the Cornell Track Association and the Athletics Campaign Committee.
Moore is survived by his wife of 49 years, Judith, as well as eight children. Information on services will be announced at a future time.
