ATLANTA — The Georgia Tech athletics department is mourning the loss of legendary former director of athletics, Dr. Homer Rice.

Rice died Monday, June 10, at the age of 97.

He was the Yellow Jackets athletics director from 1980-1997.

As athletic director, he hired some of Tech’s most successful head coaches, including Bobby Cremins in basketball, Bobby Ross and George O’Leary in football, Jim Morris and Danny Hall in baseball, and Bruce Heppler in golf.

During his time as athletic director, Georgia Tech won 16 ACC championships across five sports.

He continued to teach a leadership class at Tech until recently and wrote several books on leadership success.

In 2021, a statue of Rice was dedicated outside of Bobby Dodd Stadium, joining statues of legendary Georgia Tech coaches John Heisman and Bobby Dodd.