Michael Cramer - Former President of Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars - Joins Sports Business Faculty at NYU's Tisch Center

Michael J. Cramer, a leading sports and business executive, will join the faculty of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, announced NYU-SCPS Dean Robert Lapiner. He will assume his new position as a full-time clinical assistant professor in September 2007.

Mr. Cramer most recently served as chief administrative officer of Pinnacle Foods Corp., a multi-billion-dollar food conglomerate. From 1998 to 2004, Mr. Cramer served as president and chief operating officer of Southwest Sports Group, L.L.C. and Southwest Sports Realty, L.L.C. and in those roles, served as president of the Dallas Stars hockey team and Texas Rangers baseball team at various times. Prior to that, he was a founding partner of C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. (CDM), a private investment and management firm which operated and managed several public and privately-held consumer companies including The Morningstar Group Inc, International Home Foods, Inc, Ghirardelli Chocolate and Stella Foods. Before joining CDM, he practiced law in Wisconsin for several years.

At NYU's Tisch Center, among the courses Cramer will teach are: Investment Analysis of Sports Facilities, Planning and Development of Major Sporting Events, Investment Analysis in Sports, and Professional Seminar IV.

"Michael Cramer's noteworthy and nationally recognized professional accomplishments, his lifelong engagement with higher education, and his deep commitment to teaching and student development make us delighted to welcome him as a new faculty member" said Dean Lapiner. "Our Tisch Center students will benefit from the richness of his practiced-eye and expertise in building and leading major organizations in the hospitality and sports industries and his intellectual sophistication."
"Our goal is to build a full-time faculty with extraordinary experience and talent," said Lalia Rach, divisional dean of the Tisch Center and HVS International Chair. "The addition of Michael Cramer to our faculty greatly strengthens our finance and development curriculum. His subject matter expertise includes elements of business success and reality that will provide additional proof to the portion of our motto that states the industry are our faculty."

"I am excited and honored to join the faculty at NYU," Cramer noted. "I have long entertained thoughts of joining the ranks of university educators and look forward to sharing my experiences with the Tisch Center students, helping with the continued growth of the hospitality and sports management programs, and becoming a small part of the proud traditions and wonderful educational heritage at NYU."

Cramer received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany in 1974 and a J.D. from Marquette University Law School in 1978. Mr. Cramer has served as a member of several charitable boards, foundations, advisory groups, and civic groups (as chairman of several), including: the Wisconsin National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Shoes for Orphan Souls, Habitat for Humanity, the National Sports Law Institute, and many more. He also served as a member and chairman of the City of Arlington (Texas) Chamber of Commerce which is responsible for economic development for that city.