June 30, 2015 By Tony Mancuso
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In a career that has spanned nine U.S. Presidents and 436 Penn State Football wins, Bud Meredith has seen it all in his five decades of service in Happy Valley.
In an ever-changing climate of technology and advancement in major college athletics and the ticketing world, two things have remained constant since Meredith's first day at Penn State in 1965 – His love for Penn State and his infectious personality.
"Fifty years at Penn State University, it's been an endeavor," Meredith said. "It's been a love of my life. I'm a State College boy, born and raised."
A graduate of State College High School, Meredith did a three-year stint in the Navy immediately following graduation from 1957-60, spending two years on the USS Orion. His time in the Navy ended one day before his 21st birthday.
He enrolled at Penn State in 1960 before graduating in December of 1964 with a degree in business. From that day forward, Meredith knew where he wanted to be.
"I loved this town and I loved this community, and I told myself I had to find a job here," Meredith said.
Hired in 1965, Meredith spent two years working with the internal auditing staff out of Old Main. At the tail end of his two-year run with the auditors, Meredith was tasked with the football program's auditing, thus creating a natural transition into work with Athletics.
It was February of 1967 when a created position – Assistant Business Manager – steered Meredith into Penn State Athletics, a post he has held for more than 48 years, 580 months and 17,655 days up to his official retirement on June 30.
"I have loved it ever since," said Meredith. "At that time, everything was under one roof. We were in Rec Hall at that time, where wrestling and volleyball are now. We did everything out of that office. We were the event office, the ticket office, the trip coordinator office. We wore many hats."
Among the first hats Meredith wore as an Athletics employee was serving as a department accountant. Promoted to Ticket Manager in 1970, Meredith was a jack-of-all-trades. At the time, everything was handwritten, including the seating diagram in Beaver Stadium (46,284 seat capacity when Meredith started at Athletics).
The Athletic Department hired the drafting shop within the University to line the stadium sections out row-by-row on large pieces of cardboard so that Meredith could write every seat on the diagram. The name of the ticket purchaser would then be written on the diagram and verified before tickets were mailed out to the customer.
"It wasn't fun," Meredith joked. "Everything was processed by an old cash register at that time, too."
It wasn't until 1976 when the department explored the idea of a computerized ticketing system. Meredith pointed to the Nittany Lions' clash against Ohio State on Sept. 19, 1976 as the catalyst for researching computer software to aide in the ticketing process.
In Penn State's first meeting against Ohio State in Beaver Stadium, demand for tickets soared for the matchup between two national powers. And with so many individuals – ticketing staff, coaches, Athletics employees – all selling tickets, Meredith was faced with 300 tickets being oversold for the game. He found a solution by adding two seat boards above the top row of each section in Beaver Stadium, but that game led to a change.
To go along with Beaver Stadium's largest expansion and first major renovation (addition of 16,000 seats; stadium structure was cut into pieces and lifted to remove the track encircling the perimeter), Meredith ushered in ticketing software on computers prior to the 1978 football season. With a seating capacity of 76,017, Meredith filled 12 five-inch floppy disks with the season ticket holder accounts.
It took nearly 60 minutes to run an end of day report off of a single disk. Nonetheless, the intricate process of re-seating individuals in the newly renovated stadium was made much easier with the help of a computerized system.
At the time, very few individuals utilized credit cards for season ticket purchases. Meredith said the vast majority of folks would come to the ticket office for face-to-face interaction to complete a purchase. Mentored by Ed Czekaj, Penn State's Athletic Director from 1968-80, Meredith learned numerous lessons in customer service, but one thing Czekaj stuck with him.
"That was his first thing he told me, ‘you always have four in your pocket, you never run out of tickets,'" said Meredith. "I used to bury them in my yard. I haven't found them all yet (laughter)."
The main ticket office for Penn State Athletics was located in Rec Hall until 1980. With the evolution of the department and growing number of teams, the ticket office moved into a double-wide trailer outside of Beaver Stadium from 1980-95. Meredith and his staff moved into its current location inside the Bryce Jordan Center on the last Saturday of December in 1995.
"At that time, I told myself I'd get a couple years in here (the BJC). It's been 20 years," Meredith said.
A people person in every sense of the word, Meredith's endearing personality is perfect for the job he has held for the past five decades. One conversation with him makes an individual realize why he has invested so much time and effort in one place.
Meredith's passion for the University is unmatched and his caring persona fits the mold of a customer service position to a T.
"He was the original customer service guy when you get down to it," said Associate Athletic Director for Business Operations Dave Baker. "He dealt with all of those individuals back in the days when he first started. He knew everybody and he knew where everybody was sitting. He probably knew more players and more fans than anybody associated with Penn State Football."
Baker has worked alongside Meredith since June 3, 1974.
"I think he has been a mentor to a lot of different people in a lot of different areas of the department, not just the ticket office," said Baker. "I think a lot of people sought his advice. He's been around here so long. He's worked at a number of different event-related things in a number of different areas."
Meredith's impact on the fan base is immeasurable. There may not be a single Penn State Athletics employee who has dealt with more individuals on a customer care level. And to no one's surprise, it's Meredith's favorite part of the job.
"The people we work with have all been great," said Meredith. "From the administrators to a part-time staff member, everyone has been great."
But his service stretches far beyond the paying customers. He developed a rapport with Penn State student-athletes and coaches beyond the call of duty.
"He's been really good in terms of offering assistance and providing help for anybody," said Baker. "With a lot of people, he served as a mentor. That's why a lot of us have a lot of respect for him."
"A lot of former players will continue to call, stop back," Meredith said. "Different seasons and different sports make athletics just so enjoyable."
Meredith has been an integral part of countless milestones in Penn State Athletics history. To name a few, he's been on the payroll during 38 of the football program's 45 bowl games, watched seven Beaver Stadium expansions and helped pioneer women's athletics at Penn State.
Having seen hundreds of thousands of tickets pass by his desk, Meredith's preferred seat location is 25 rows up in the corner on the southwest side of Beaver Stadium.
It's a perfect spot for a man who loves being around individuals who love the University as much as he does.
"He's always been good with people. And everybody knows who Bud Meredith is," said Baker.
The father of two daughters and one son will retire, but he wouldn't change a thing about his tenure in Happy Valley.
"It's been a labor of love," said Meredith.
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