Albany State professor a man of many interests

ALBANY - Not only is Judd Biasiotto a professor at Albany State University, an author, a hypnotist, a weightlifting instructor and a motivational speaker, but at the age of 58, he&#39;s also a world bodybuilding champion. <br> <br> The 5-foot-5, 140-pound Biasiotto won the bantamweight division at the World Bodybuilding Championship in late September in Los Angeles, beating out 15 other contenders. <br> <br> ``I wish I knew,&#39;&#39; he replied when asked why he spends 15 hours a week working on sculpting his body. ``I guess I&#39;m just driven as an athlete. It&#39;s a very good question. I probably need a psychologist.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In addition, Biasiotto, who has written 38 books, had his latest one, a motivational story, ``The Art of Being Human,&#39;&#39; released last week. <br> <br> He learned hypnosis as a teen, earning him a job with the Kansas City Royals&#39; minor league baseball academy in the 1970s. His roommate was Branch Rickey III, grandson of the man who signed Jackie Robinson for the Brooklyn Dodgers. <br> <br> When he was in town, a young Royals scout named John Schuerholz, now the Atlanta Braves general manager, also shared a room with Biasiotto. <br> <br> He grew up in Pennsylvania, worked for the Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, then became a power-lifter, ranking as high as sixth in the world. <br> <br> In 1981, he decided to settle down and wound up at Albany State where he accepted a teaching job, intending to spend a year or two. But he never left. <br> <br> In addition to working out 15 hours a week at Tony&#39;s Gym in Albany, he spends three hours a day writing and the rest teaching or traveling. <br> <br> Gym owner Tony Powell encouraged Biasiotto to take up bodybuilding six years ago. <br> <br> ``He looks better than probably 99 percent of the population,&#39;&#39; Powell said. <br> <br> ``I think one thing he does is he probably gives other people more credit than he deserves. We talk, but he mostly does it on his own. He&#39;s just in here day in and day out,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Biasiotto gave up power-lifting in 1988 after a neck injury. Bodybuilding allows him less stress in the weight room and he can spend more time toning and lifting lighter weights, said Powell. <br> <br> ``This gave him an avenue where he could continue to compete and train without having to lift heavy weights,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> ``I honestly like power-lifting better,&#39;&#39; said Biasiotto. ``Because you always felt like the strongest guy would win. Bodybuilding is more subjective, and it is basically a beauty contest. But it is hard. It does take a lot of work.&#39;&#39;