Oberlin College Athletics

Have a question concerning Oberlin College athletics? Ask anyone and you will be directed to James “J.D.” Donovan.

A longtime historian for the athletics department, Donovan has been involved with Oberlin athletics since arriving on campus as a first-year student in 1957. He was a four-year member on the football and lacrosse teams.

Following his graduation in 1961, J.D. taught in Walled Lake, Michigan, and Norwalk, Ohio, before moving back to Oberlin in 1966 where he began a 26-year career as a social studies teacher at Oberlin High School. J.D. was also head football coach at the high school for many years and was inducted into the Lorain County Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

In 1983, while still teaching at the high school, Donovan became the head men’s lacrosse coach and an assistant football coach at Oberlin College. He also played lacrosse for 20 years with the Cleveland Lacrosse Club. He retired from public school teaching in 1992 but continued to coach men’s lacrosse at the college until 2000. In 2003, he was inducted into the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Since retiring, Donovan has become a repository for the history of Oberlin College athletics. He and his wife, Linda, were charter members of the John W. Heisman Club, and J.D. has long served as the organization’s honors and historical committee chair.

Donovan is the lead organizer of the annual Heisman Club Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and has undertaken numerous special projects throughout his time. He has researched special award winners and compiled historical databases for year-by-year win-loss records for all teams. J.D. remains an avid supporter of all Oberlin athletics teams.