Buffalo Bisons GM to Speak at UPB

Mike Buczkowski, vice president and general manager of Buffalo Bisons baseball, will speak Oct. 5 as part of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Executive Speaker Series.

He will speak at 11 a.m. in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. The event is free and open to the public.

He will discuss the challenges of managing a professional team, trends affecting the sporting industry, how sports management differs from corporate management and tips for students wishing to enter this field.

This year is Buczkowski’s 25th with the Bisons and his 18th year as the club’s general manager, the longest tenure of any general manager in the 126-year history of the franchise.

He began with the Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, in 1987 as a public relations assistant during the team’s final season at War Memorial Stadium. Coinciding with the club’s move to Pilot Field in 1988, Buczkowski was promoted to public relations coordinator and then to public relations manager in 1989.

During the 1992 season, he was promoted to assistant general manager and was named general manager the next year. He became vice president in 1999.

During Buczkowski’s 17 years as general manager, the Bisons have led the league in attendance seven times, including setting the International League’s all-time attendance record in 1998.

In 2001, he accepted the Bob Freitas Award from Baseball America on behalf of the Bisons. The award is presented annually to a franchise for overall operational excellence. The Bisons are the only Triple-A team to win the award twice.

Buczkowski is responsible for the strategic planning of the organization and manages all day-to-day operations of the front office staff. He is also responsible for the coordination of player development contracts with the Bisons’ parent club.

The Executive Speaker Series, founded in 2009, is sponsored by the Pitt-Bradford entrepreneurship and business management programs. Past speakers include Greg Booth, president and chief executive officer of Zippo Manufacturing Co.; William J. Wagner, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Savings Bank; and Tom Oreck, president and chief executive officer of Oreck Corp.

For more information, contact Diana Maguire, associate director of the entrepreneurship program, at (814)362-5277 or dsm20@pitt.edu.

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at (814)362-7533 or clh71@pitt.edu.