Published Work - Le Provocateur

Ted Paulauskas to retire after this year - News - Le Provocateur
Published in February 1, 2012 issue of Le Provocateur


With the 45th anniversary of his graduation from Assumption rapidly approaching this upcoming June, Ted Paulauskas' decision to retire was an easy one. Paulauskas said, My wife, who is also an educator, decided in the fall that she was going to retire as well, so it made the decision easy for me. The job of being Athletic Director is not your typical 9-5 job, its also a Spring Break, weekend, and holiday type of job."

Athletic Director and Hall of Fame basketball player for Assumption College, Ted Paulauskas, announced his retirement planned for the end of the 2011-2012 academic year on December 15, 2011. Paulauskas has been the Athletic Director since 2003. Although he is not involved in the process of picking or training the new Athletic Director, he is willing to make himself available if the upcoming director is to have any questions.

Paulauskas is originally from a small town right ouside of Worcester, Mass. He attended high school at St. John's, formerly located in Worcester, but now in the town of Shrewsbury. After graduation, he spent his college experience on the campus of Assumption. He was a member of the Men's Basketball team for all four of his academic years, and served as the captain his senior year. He graduated from Assumption with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History and Education.

After he graduated in 1967, he taught at Fitchburg High School for two years. Shortly after Paulauskas started working in the Athletic department of Assumption in 1969 as the Assistant Athletic Director, but he also sharpened his coaching skills by becoming the Assistant Coach to the Men's Basketball team, and the head coach for both the Men's Tennis and Cross-Country teams. After a year of coaching, he went into the military during the Vietnam War from 1970-1972. When he came home from the war, he returned back to Assumption and worked for another year.

In 1974, Paulauskas headed off to be the Assistant Coach for the Dartmouth Basketball and Tennis teams for a year.

After Dartmouth, he moved to St. Anselm's College in Manchester, N.H. Paulauskas stayed at St. Anselm's for 25 years, with the job title of Athletic Director and described his experience by saying, "I was only 27 when I was the Athletic Director. IT was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity."

Paulauskas coached the St. A's Men's Basketball team for eight years. While he was acting as the director and coaching basketball, he took part in the building of the recreation center, the football stadium, seven outdoor sports fields, a tennis facility, the cross-country course and the renovation of the gym. Not only did his job as Athletic Director at St. A's require him to assist in the various buildings, but he was all in charge of hiring all of the staff and recruiting all of the student athletes when it became a co-ed institution. While reflecting on the number of duties he had while at St. Anselm's Paulauskas said, "As time goes on, the world becomes much more specialized. Years ago though, people were responsible for many more duties."

As the Athletic Director here at Assumption, he assisted in renovating the fields and the outdoor stadium, just as he did at St. Anselm's. He started as the Athletic Director in 2003 an is responsible for adding the Women's Swimming, Men's Track and Women's Track to the athletics here on campus. There are 425 student-athletes, about 23 percent of the student body here on campus, which Paulauskas oversees. When reflecting back on his years here at Assumption, whether that is as a student or an employee, Paulauskas described it by saying, "I have been a very fortunate person to be around 18-22 year olds for my whole life."