Dr. Fritz G. Polite is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Chair of the Management Science Division & Director of the Sport Management Program at The Harry F. Byrd Jr., School of Business at Shenandoah University (VA). He has over 30 years of experience in business, sports, management, coaching, and teaching to include 19 years of International experience.
Polite earned his Ph.D. in Sport Administration from The Florida State University . He received his master’s of Public Administration degree from Troy State University (Alabama) and bachelor’s degree in Management from Simpson College (Iowa). Sports have played prominently in Polite’s career, including the following professional experience:
New York Football Giants, National Football League – advising, evaluating and testing (aptitude, psychological and physical) of college athletes with potential for the annual NFL draft; General Tour Manager, Harlem Globetrotters, Sport Program Manager, Walt Disney World Sports and National TEAM, Head Coach-Switzerland (American Football), He has also worked Super Bowl XXXIX (Jacksonville), Super Bowl XLI (Miami), Super Bowl XLII (Arizona), Super Bowl XLIII (Tampa) , Super Bowl XLIV (Miami),Super Bowl XLV (North Texas) Super Bowl XLVI (Indianapolis) Super Bowl XLVII (N. Orleans). He has been a coach, player and administrator at the professional level.
His primary research focus is in the area of socio-cultural aspects of sport to include: leadership, hiring practices, race, gender and diversity. His secondary line of research is in the area of brand & vertical extension. He also has presented issues related to sport agents and University/High School student-athletes. He has presented & published jnternationally in China, S. Korea, Trinidad/Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Hawaii, Finland, Spain, Canada, France, Germany & Switzerland. He has published in respected journal outlets to include: The Marketing and Management Journal, Sport Marketing Quarterly, The Spanish Marketing Journal, Public Administration Review, Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, and The Harvard University W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African American Research. He has appeared on ESPN Outside the Lines, ABC News, ESPN National Radio and USA Today News. He is a member of The North American Society of Sport Management, Marketing & Management Association, Pi Alpha Alpha (Business Honor Society) Pi Lambda Theta (Education Honor Society), Delta Sigma Pi (Professional Business) and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. He serves proudly on the Executive Board of the College Sports Research Institute and is the President for the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.
