Nelson Townsend

Nelson E. Townsend (May 16, 1941 – January 8, 2015) was a former American athletic director. Townsend served seven tenures as athletic director at four different universities: the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (1976–1979 and 2003–2005),^[1] Delaware State University (1979–1986), Florida A&M University (1986–1987, 2005–2007, and 2014–2015^[2] and the University at Buffalo (1987–1999).^[3][4] He was the University at Buffalo's first African American athletic director.^[1] At both Delaware State and Buffalo, Townsend was responsible for leading the athletic department to achieve full NCAA Division I status, as both schools transitioned from lower levels of NCAA hierarchy.^[1] Townsend was elected to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 1995.^[5]

On December 15, 2014, Florida A&M University president Dr. Elmira Mangum announced that Townsend had been named interim athletic director at Florida A&M, following the resignation of Kellen Winslow.^[6] It was Townsend's third stint as Florida A&M AD, following previous tenures from 1986–1987 and 2005–2007. On December 23, 2014 Townsend announced the hiring of Alex Wood as the new head football coach at Florida A&M.^[7][4] On January 8, 2015, Townsend collapsed on the Florida A&M campus while he was preparing for a staff meeting. He was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare where he was pronounced dead from a heart attack at the age of 73.^[2][8]

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