Who is Ross Bjork? What we know about Ohio State's new AD set to replace Gene Smith

Ohio State announced on Tuesday that it has hired Ross Bjork to become its next athletic director. He is coming from the same role at Texas A&M and will be replacing Gene Smith, who served in the role for almost two decades and is set to embark on retirement.

Bjork will become the program's ninth athletic director. He faces a huge task ahead of him as he will be expected to live up to the standard set by Smith.

Let’s examine the administrator.

Who is Ross Bjork?

Ross Bjork is undoubtedly one of the top administrators in the world of college athletics considering the amount of experience he has garnered. His affinity with the landscape started when he played fullback for Emporia State.

Born Oct. 22, 1972, Bjork was the youngest athletic director in college sports when he first took the role at Western Kentucky in 2010. He subsequently went on to take the same role at Ole Miss in 2012 when he was the youngest in the Power Five.

He arrived at Texas A&M in 2019 and has done a brilliant job in resetting many aspects at College Station. Over the years, Ross Bjork has ensured significant success in the universities he's worked with.

Ohio State's president Ted Carter couldn't help but praise Bjork for his resume.

"Few athletics directors have established such an impressive and strong record of success in athletics, in the classroom and throughout the community," Carter said in a statement.

"The bar is incredibly high at Ohio State, and we have found in Ross a highly intelligent and effective leader – not to mention a fierce competitor."

The seasoned administrator worked in different administrative roles at universities like Western Kentucky, Missouri, Miami and UCLA before becoming an athletic director in 2010.

He also supervised the establishment of AMPLIFY and AMPLIFY Local Exchange, initiatives designed to provide student-athletes with education and resources covering topics such as finance, personal branding, networking, and media training.

Bjork earned his bachelor's degree from Emporia State in 1995 and followed up with a master's degree from Western Illinois in 1996. He is married to Sonya Bjork and has two sons, Payton and Paxton.

Ross Bjork will take over as the athletic director in Columbus at the start of the new academic year in July 2024.