Ron Petro’s extensive contributions as athletic director and head men’s basketball coach were instrumental to the growth of the Marist College Athletics Department. He was the Red Foxes’ head coach from 1966-84, and his 18-year tenure is tied for the longest in program history. At Marist, Petro won 231 games, three league titles, and an NAIA district championship. He coached the first eight 1,000-point scorers in program history, including the program’s first 2,000-point scorer in Steve Smith, who stood as the Red Foxes’ all-time leading scorer for over 30 years.

Petro served as athletic director from 1977-84, an era which included Marist’s jump to Division I in 1981. He spearheaded the growth of several facilities, including the building of the McCann Center, and founded the Red Fox Club. He also developed summer sports camps, and initiated and coached the school’s men’s and women’s tennis programs. A member of the Manhattan College Hall of Fame, where he was a three-year starter and 1,000-point scorer, Petro remained an integral part in the growth of the game following his departure from Marist. As athletic director at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1984-92, he secured a deal with ESPN to televise the Great Alaska Shootout. He served as athletic director at the University of Rhode Island from 1992-2004, where the men’s basketball program made its deepest NCAA Tournament run in school history when it advanced to the 1998 Elite Eight. He also served as President of the Atlantic 10 Athletic Directors. Petro later served as Executive Director of the 2006 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Boston.