UMass Amherst

In 1911, after receiving a degree from Michigan State Normal College, Hicks was hired as the athletic director at Massachusetts Agricultural College (now known as University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

) in Amherst, Massachusetts

Amherst, Massachusetts

Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...

. He was the school's first Director of Athletics and Student Health and held the post for 38 years until his retirement in 1949. During his time as athletic director, he led a construction program of $400,000 worth of athletic facilities, including Alumni Field and the physical education building that was completed in 1931. The latter building was renamed the Curry Hicks Physical Education Building (also commonly known as the "Curry Hicks Cage") in June 1941. In his official biography, the UMass Library states:

"Curry S. Hicks pioneered the University's athletics program as it transitioned from the Massachusetts Agricultural College to the University of Massachusetts. Hicks led the charge to build modern athletic fields and gymnasia and during his tenure, many of the University's teams climbed to new heights of excellence. ... On his retirement in 1949, Hicks left behind a thoroughly modernized athletics program ..."

Hicks was also a professor of physical education and the head of the school's Division of Physical Education and Hygiene. He was credited with building up the physical education curriculum at UMass for both men and women. His publications include "The influence of faculty supervision on the moral effects of athletics in high schools and colleges" (1912), and "Community Playgrounds" (1938).

Hicks' wife, Adeline (Herrick) Hicks, was a classmate of Hicks in the Michigan State Normal College Class of 1909. She established the physical education program for women at the University of Massachusetts and became the head of physical education for women. She was an early advocate of modern dance as part of the physical education curriculum.

In a draft registration card completed at the time of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Hicks reported that he was living in Amherst and working as a college teacher for Massachusetts Agricultural College.

Death

After his retirement in 1949, Hicks and his wife Adeline lived in Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

. He died there in February 1964 at age 78.