FIYou: Rob Frye

Name: Rob Frye

Hometown: I grew up in Melbourne, in Brevard County

Job Title/Department: Director of Recreation Services

Campus/Location: MMC

In a nutshell: As director of Recreation Services at MMC, I oversee the operations of on-campus recreation facilities like the Rec Center, Panther Hall Pool and the Recreation Field, as well as programs like Intramural Sports, PantherFIT group fitness classes, Adventure Recreation, Sport Clubs, and personal training. In Rec Services, we have nine full-time professionals and staff, and more than 175 student employees. I also teach in the Recreation & Sports Management Program in the College of Education and occasionally teach a First-Year Experience (SLS) class. The special project attracting most of my attention now is planning for the expansion of the Recreation Center, which currently does not have a firm start date but is scheduled to be completed in 2015. 

Number of years at FIU: 14

What do you enjoy most about your job? Helping enable people to exercise, have fun, socialize, experience new activities and maybe even relive their youth sports memories on the intramural field or court.

What do you think students and your fellow faculty/staff should know about your area? We had more than 400,000 uses of the Rec Center last fiscal year, the highest number ever. We also saw record numbers of PantherFIT and Intramural Sports participants as well. And participants in our Lose It Weight Loss Program so far have lost literally more than a ton of weight (2,000+ lbs.)!

Where is your favorite spot on campus? For me, driving down University Drive with the law school fountain, Rec Center, U.S. Century Bank Arena/Panther statue, Nature Preserve and Parkview Residence Hall all in front of me shows how much we’ve grown since I’ve been at FIU.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about FIU? One thing colleagues ask me about at conferences is what FIU students are like. Are they different from students around the country? My response is “yes” and “no.” Certainly they may be more diverse than in many other parts of the country, and come from a wider range of socio-economic backgrounds than many, but they still have the same dreams, challenges, interests and initiative that students anywhere have.

How do you help make FIU “Worlds Ahead?” Keeping FIU’s recreation facilities, services, and programs top notch for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Family snapshot: I’ve been married for 32 years to my lovely wife Kathy and we have one son, Connor, 17, who went to pre-school at FIU’s own Children’s Creative Learning Center. We’re all protected by Storm, our rat terrier.

Word that best describes you: Upbeat

First paying job: Working for a landscaping firm – I was the one who went out into the company’s swampy nursery to dig out the palm trees for planting elsewhere.

Favorite TV show: “The Walking Dead,” “American Pickers” and “NCIS”

What is playing on your iPod? My playlists are very eclectic – pop, country, rock, ’50s/oldies, alternative, classical.

Your proudest accomplishment: So far, the opening of the current Rec Center, in August 2005, has been my proudest professional experience.

What do you do when you are not working at FIU? Trying to hit a little white ball around a grass field filled with trees, water and sand. If it weren’t for the18 holes in the ground that the ball sometimes falls into, the more whacks, the better!