Robert J. Gill (2001) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Robert J. Gill

Induction:
2001
Class:
1960

1957-60
Track & Field
‘60

Bob Gill certainly has gone the extra mile for the Zips’ Athletics Department. As UA undergraduate, Gill was a seven-time Ohio Athletic Conference champion for the UA track and field program. In 1960, he and Climon Lee represented Akron at the NCAA Mideastern Championship meet in Chicago. Gill broke the NCAA 880 yard record at that meet, but came in second to Loyloa’s Ernie Billup, who also bettered the mark. To this day, he remains an ardent fan and active backer of the UA track & field program, leading a Track & Field Challenge to raise funds and chairing the Track & Field Resource Council. Both efforts had bolstered coach Dennis Mitchell’s fast-improving Akron teams. A retired president of AFD Industries, Inc,. Gill and his wife, Jacqueline, live in Canton and have two grown sons, Robert and Jeffrey. In addition to his continued involvement with UA’s athletics program, he is president of the Glenmoor Homeowners Association, a past president of the Glenmoor Country Club, and past treasurer of the National Assn. of Elevators Contractors. In a Zip Athletic Club Box Seat newsletter. Gill said: “I would not be where I am today without having been a track and field student-athlete at The University of Akron.”