Hall of Fame
Al Schmittlein was The Rock's head golf coach from 1979 to 1992 after serving several seasons as an assistant coach on the staff of former athletic director and head golf coach Dr. Bob Raymond (SRU Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2000).
Schmittlein guided The Rock linksters to three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships (1985, 1987, 1988) and NCAA Division II postseason competition eight straight years (1985 to 1992).
Among the players coached by Schmittlein were first-team All-America selections Jim Hagstrom (1986 All-American, 1995 SRU Athletic Hall of Fame) and Gordon Vietmeier (1990 All-American, 1997 SRU Athletic Hall of Fame).
A 1976 graduate of the Professional Golf Association's School for Teaching Golf, Schmittlein served several seasons as the NCAA Division II rankings committee for the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Away from the links, Schmittlein served as a Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and as an English professor at SRU. He was named as Professor Laureate in 1964 and Outstanding Professor or English in 1977.
Schmittlein also served as the University's first Director of Public Relations and as Director of Liberal Arts.
Schmittlein received both his bachelor's (1950) and Ph.D. (1962) degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and earned a master's degree in comparative literature from Columbia University in 1953. He is also a 1944 graduate of Allegheny High School in Pittsburgh.
He began his teaching career as a public school teacher at Franklin Township High School and in the Butler School District.
