Bob Barney | |
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 Barney in 2023 | |
| Born | January 5, 1932 |
| Alma mater | University of New Mexico |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
| Employer | University of Western Ontario |
| Known for |
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| Family | Dave Barney (brother) |
| Awards | |
Robert Knight Barney (born January 5, 1932) is an American academic and sports historian. A veteran of the United States Air Force during the Korean conflict, he attended the University of New Mexico where he was a three-sport varsity athlete, and earned bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. He coached the New Mexico Lobos swimming team to seven winning seasons, and was a professor of physical education. At the University of Western Ontario, he served as director of intercollegiate athletics from 1972 to 1979, then focused on teaching, writing and research, and became a professor emeritus in 1996. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario in 2014, and is inducted into the sports hall of fame for both the Western Mustangs and the New Mexico Lobos.
As a baseball historian, Barney's research verified the oldest-known game played in Canada—June 4, 1838—in Beachville, Ontario. He has served on the board of directors for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and advocated for relocating the hall of fame to St. Marys, Ontario, and was chairman of the induction selection committee. He spent three years investigating the history of Labatt Park, validating its claim as baseball's oldest and continuously operated park, and assisted on the park's application for national heritage site distinction.
In 1989, Barney established the International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario, to research the history and sociocultural impacts of the Olympics. In 1992, he began Olympika, the first peer-reviewed academic journal focused on the Olympics. He has served as president of the North American Society for Sport History, is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians, and was associate editor of the Journal of Olympic History. He co-authored the book Selling the Five Rings (2002), which discussed the history of corporate sponsorships and television rights for the Olympic Games. For his scholarly work on history of the Olympics, he received the Olympic Order in 1997, and the Pierre de Coubertin medal in 2009.