Paul E. Belting (1887 – July 20, 1943) was an

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

from 1924 to 1929. He was the third athletic director in school history, and he oversaw the construction of the Iowa Field House in 1927 and

Iowa Stadium Nile Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. First opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently ...

in 1929.

Background

Paul Belting graduated from Eastern Illinois State Normal High School in

Illiopolis, Illinois Illiopolis is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 891 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The name was formed from Illinois and -polis, a Greek s ...

. He played football for Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in 1907 and 1908. He then attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, where he played football, lettering in the sport in 1911. He later served as a high school principal in

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Cens ...

Globe, Arizona Globe ( apw, Bésh Baa Gowąh "Place of Metal") is a city in Gila County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,249. The city is the county seat of Gila County. Globe was founded c. 1875 as a mining cam ...

, and

Martinsville, Illinois Martinsville is a city in Clark County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,118 at the 2020 census. Geography Martinsville is located at (39.338369, -87.881940). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Martinsville has a total ...

. Belting coached Oskaloosa High School to the football state championship in 1916. He then was a high school athletic director in New York City from 1917–1920.''75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes'', by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, pp. 898–90 () Belting joined the College of Education at the

in 1920. He wrote "The Development of the Free Public High School in Illinois to 1860" () in 1919.

Athletic director

In 1924, Iowa's head football coach and athletic director, Howard Jones, left Iowa to take the head coaching position at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. The

hired Paul Belting to succeed Jones as Iowa's athletic director on March 13, 1924. Belting now needed to hire a football coach, and after a failed attempt to hire Notre Dame head coach

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

, Belting hired fellow Illinois alumnus

Burt Ingwersen Burton Aherns Ingwersen (August 29, 1898 – July 15, 1969) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa from 1924 to 1931, compiling ...

. Many Iowa alumni were displeased with Belting hiring a fellow Illini to the post.''Hawkeye Legends, Lists, & Lore'', by Mike Finn & Chad Leistikow, p. 49 () Paul Belting consolidated athletics with the Physical Education program at Iowa and planned several new athletic buildings. Within five years, Belting oversaw the constructions of the Iowa Field House and

. Belting got funding and architectural plans approved in a surprisingly short time. "If it hadn’t been for him, Iowa's new stadium probably wouldn’t have been built for another 20 years", former Iowa sports information director George Wine wrote. Belting abruptly resigned at the end of his five-year contract on April 26, 1929. Two weeks later, Iowa was suspended from Big Ten athletic competition by the conference for allegedly maintaining a "slush fund" for prospective athletes. This fund was nicknamed the "Belting fund" in the press, while Belting accused the university of not having proper faculty control of athletics. Iowa fans held Belting responsible for their suspension from Big Ten athletic competition and threw eggs at his home.''Time'' magazine
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Retirement

Belting moved back to Illinois and took a job as an assistant state superintendent of public instruction. He wrote "The Modern High School Curriculum" () in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belting, Paul 1887 births 1943 deaths American football guards Illinois Fighting Illini football players Iowa Hawkeyes athletic directors People from Sangamon County, Illinois People from Oskaloosa, Iowa People from Globe, Arizona People from Clark County, Illinois