Since joining the SUNY Cortland professional staff in 1981 as sports information director, Peter D. Koryzno has brought local, regional and national prestige to the College's intercollegiate athletic program. In 1988, he was named the first recipient of the Fraser Stokes Award presented by the SUNY Cortland Athletic Office for outstanding service to Cortland athletics. In June 1996, he received the ECAC Sports Information Directors Association's prestigious Irving Marsh Award for his contributions to the profession.
Now the SUNY Cortland news services editor, Koryzno has featured former Cortland athletes in Columns, the alumni publication which he has edited since 1987. As sports information director for 11 years, he promoted and publicized thousands of Cortland student-athletes competing in 28 different men's and women's sports. He annually coordinated publicity for national, regional, state and conference events held at SUNY Cortland, including NCAA Division III championships in wrestling, soccer and field hockey.
An innovator in his profession, Koryzno was among the first to use computer technology in the sports information field in the early 1980's. He introduced the first small college sports hotline in New York State. In 1983, he created the Upstate New York Division III Weekly Report and Football Poll. He assisted in reorganizing the NCAA Division III Football All-American Team, currently sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, and still serves as its East Region chair. For a number of years, he coordinated the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Poll and was the State University of New York Athletic Conference publicist. He was a member of the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Selection Committee and continues to serve on the College Sports Information Directors of America's Special Awards Committee.
As a C-Club Committee member, he has produced all C-Club Hall of Fame publicity since 1981 and edited a special 25th anniversary directory in 1993. That same year, he worte a history of SUNY Cortland football for the team's centennial celebration. For nine years, he worked in the Empire State Games media headquarters and, during its first few years, produced the New york State Senior Games official program.
A natvie of Muskegon, Mich., Koryzno graduated from Muskegon Catholic Central. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Marquette University and studied in Italy at the Loyola University Rome Center. He did graduate work at Louisiana State University. He worked as a sports writer for the Muskegon Chronicle and as editor of the Ticonderoga Sentinel before coming to SUNY Cortland.
