We're counting down the days to kickoff with “99 Warriors,” the greatest Ohio State Buckeyes by jersey number, as voted by the staff of Eleven Warriors.
No. 60 Charles Csuri
Charles Csuri was the team MVP and a first-team All-American on Ohio State's first-ever national championship team in 1942, and a team captain for the Buckeyes in 1943.
T Charles Csuri
1941-43
b. July 4, 1922 (Grant Town, W.Va.)
- National Champion (1942)
- First-Team All-American (1942)
- Team MVP (1942)
- Team Captain (1943)
- Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame (1993)
Those achievements on the football field were enough alone to make Csuri the top Buckeye ever to wear No. 60, but they're only the beginning of what Csuri accomplished in his time at Ohio State.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II – for which he earned the Bronze Star for heroic service in the Battle of the Bulge – Csuri passed up the opportunity to play professional football and returned to Ohio State to pursue a master's degree in art. After earning that degree in 1948, Csuri joined the university's faculty in 1949.
In 1964, Csuri began experimenting with computer graphics technology and went on to become an internationally renowned pioneer in the field. In a 1995 feature in the magazine Smithsonian, Csuri was recognized as the "father of digital art and computer animation."
Csuri, who is set to turn 96 on Wednesday, was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 and was awarded the Joseph Sullivant Medal – Ohio State's highest alumni honor, which is awarded only once every five years and recognizes work that has made a significant impact upon society – in 2000.
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Photo: The Ohio State University
