Jacweir "Jack" Breslin (June 23, 1920 – August 2, 1988) was an American university administrator at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(MSU). Breslin was born and raised in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. He first came to MSU, when it was still known as Michigan Agricultural College, as a student athlete, playing basketball, football and baseball before graduating in 1946. Breslin may have played with the Los Angeles Dons in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC). He then worked for four years as a district manager for

Dodge Motor Company Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Plym ...

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

. In 1950, he returned to MSU as assistant director of alumni relations. In 1953 he became director of MSU's placement bureau and in 1958 he became assistant to the vice president of MSU. Breslin served as the executive vice president of MSU. Breslin's leadership, played a role in the growth and development of the university. During Breslin's career, from the early 1950s to the late 1970s, MSU transformed from a small state university focused on agriculture to an internationally respected research university. The student population grew from about 6,000 to about 40,000. In 1969, Breslin was one of the first administrators to initiate planning for a multi-purpose, student building; and continued to be the leading force through its conceptual design. Prints of such a design were completed in January 1970 and featured such innovations as an extra “practice gymnasium,” and a dedicated space for male and female performers. When Breslin died, the building was named the

Breslin Student Events Center The Jack Breslin Student Events Center is a multi-purpose arena at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena opened in 1989, and is named for Jack Breslin, MSU alumnus, former athlete and administrator, who first began pus ...

in his honor. Breslin died on August 2, 1988, in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

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* 1920 births 1988 deaths American football fullbacks Michigan State Spartans baseball players Michigan State Spartans football players Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Sportspeople from Battle Creek, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Baseball players from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1920s-stub