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In-Depth

Athletic Directors of the Year

2010-11 Under Armour Athletic Director
of the Year Award
The Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award program, administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, honors athletic directors for their commitment and administrative excellence. The award spans seven divisions and annually honors four athletic directors from each region of those divisions. The awards will be presented at the annual NACDA convention this week in Orlando.

Football Bowl Subdivision
Bill Bradshaw
Temple University Northeast Region
Bradshaw is in his ninth year as AD at Temple and has used that time to overhaul the Owls' athletic program. He secured the football program a home at Lincoln Financial Field and a conference as a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference. He has exceeded the revenue budget in each of the past eight years, while expanding and renovating the school's facilities.
Kathy Beauregard
Western Michigan
Central region
Beauregard has been a part of Western Michigan since 1979, including a stint as women's gymnastics coach for nine seasons. She was hired as AD more than 13 years ago and is now the longest serving AD in the Mid-American Conference. She has overseen more than $36 million in facility improvements. During her tenure, 22 Broncos have earned All-America status and 22 more have earned Academic All- America honors.

Eric Hyman
University of South Carolina Southeast region
Hyman is in his sixth year at the helm of South Carolina athletics. His push to improve academic achievement has led Gamecock student athletes to surpass the 3.0 gradepoint average plateau for seven consecutive semesters. On the facility front, Hyman oversaw development of a $200 million master plan for facilities, and organized the school's first athletics capital campaign.
Chris Hill
University of Utah West region
Hill guided Utah's move to the Pac-10 Conference which, when completed in July, will further elevate the school's position as a national player in collegiate sports. During Hill's 24-year stint, the Utah men's basketball team has played in the national championship game and the football team has played in, and won, two BCS bowl games. The latest facility addition under Hill was the McCarthey Family Track & Field Complex.
Football Championship Subdivision
Joe Sterrett
Lehigh University
Northeast region
Lehigh alum Sterrett is in his 35th year of service at the university, his 22nd year as director of athletics and sixth as dean of athletics. During his tenure, Sterrett established the Center for Athletics Leadership and his teams have enjoyed widespread success. In 2010 alone, Lehigh won both the Patriot League men's and women's basketball championships, as well as the football and women's soccer titles, while its wrestling team was ranked in the top 10 nationally.
Ron Prettyman
Indiana State University Central region
In his sixth year at the helm of Indiana State, Prettyman continues to lead the resurgence of Sycamores athletics. In addition to overseeing a number of facility upgrades, Prettyman has pulled off successful coaching hires, including Trent Miles in football and Greg Lansing in basketball. He has been active with the Missouri Valley Football Conference, playing a role in its expansion to 10 institutions.

Charlie Cobb
Appalachian State
University
Southeast region
Highlights of Cobb's five years at Appalachian State include the school's three Division I football national championships and a 298 percent increase in football ticket sales. The athletic budget has nearly doubled to $14 million, and facility improvements are headlined by the 120,000-square-foot Appalachian Athletics Center. All 20 of Appalachian State's teams now practice and compete in new facilities.
Robert Hill
Stephen F. Austin State University West region
Now in his sixth year as AD, Hill has seen the Lumberjacks claim 20 Southland Conference titles and make NCAA championship appearances in eight sports. Stephen F. Austin has added two new varsity sports (women's golf and bowling) and has made facility improvements that include a new softball stadium and a new tennis pavilion.
Division I
Mike Lynch
Boston University Northeast region
Lynch is in his seventh year as assistant vice president and director of athletics, and has led the Terriers to 42 conference championships. Under his direction, the school's athletic program has seen annual support grow more than 200 percent and the number of donor-endowed athletic scholarships more than double.
Bruce Rasmussen
Creighton University Central region
Rasmussen will be in his 18th year as AD and 32nd year overall at Creighton in 2011-12. Facility projects have highlighted his career, including venues for volleyball and women's basketball, a recreation center named in his honor, and TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, where Bluejay baseball and the College World Series started play this year.

Jeff Altier
Stetson University Southeast region
Altier has spent his entire professional career building Stetson's athletic department, including the last 15 as AD. He guided construction of the school's baseball and softball facilities, and has seen his student athletes win 15 conference championships.
Larry Williams
University of Portland
West region
Williams is in his seventh year as AD and has spearheaded numerous projects to enhance Portland's athletic and academic performance, brand awareness and facilities. Under his watch, the women's soccer team won the national title in 2005, and a total of 37 student athletes have garnered All-America recognition.
Division II
Rick Cole Jr.
Dowling College Northeast region
Since taking over as vice president for athletics in 2004, Cole has secured funding to add women's soccer and lacrosse, and men's cross country, and elevated 12 coaches to fulltime status. The school's athletic program has won conference and national championships, and last fall, both the volleyball and men's soccer teams advanced to the national semifinals.
Jerry Hughes
University of Central Missouri Central region
Hughes has spent most of his professional career at his alma mater, including the last 28 years as AD. During that time, he has spearheaded fundraising efforts for renovations of UCM's football and baseball stadiums, a new clubhouse for the school's Pertle Springs Golf Course, and the development of UCM's South Recreation Complex.

Peggy Davis
Virginia State University Southeast Region
Davis, now in her eighth year as AD, has overseen numerous facility upgrades, most recently new men's and women's basketball locker rooms and a new athletic equipment storage facility. She also started the $1,000 Trojan Athletics Fundraising Club. Prior to joining VSU, Davis coached women's basketball at Angelo State.
Kathleen Brasfield
Angelo State University
West region
Brasfield was hired as women's AD in 1982 and started leading the entire department in 2004. She has expanded the department to 13 intercollegiate sports, with the most recent additions including baseball, women's golf and women's indoor track. Under her guidance, ASU won its first two NCAA national championships — softball in 2004 and women's track and field in 2010. Brasfield was instrumental in securing the first endowment solely for Angelo State athletics — a $1 million gift.
Division III
Jim Knowlton
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Northeast region
Knowlton took over as AD three years ago and has since spearheaded a $92 million athletic facilities complex. He helped endow the first head coaching position in school history and developed new athletic marks that are now registered and trademarked. He initiated an academic liaison program that pairs faculty with athletic teams, and has overseen a sponsorship program that has doubled in financial support.
Larry Scheiderer
Denison University Central region
Scheiderer became AD in 1991 and oversaw the merger of the men's and women's athletic departments. Denison athletics have since won 10 of their record 11 North Coast Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophies and 29 conference championships under his direction. Denison is also in the midst of a $38.5 million renovation and expansion of its athletic facilities.

Joy Solomen
Rowan University Southeast region
While Solomen has served as AD for the past 24 years, Rowan student athletes have been regularly recognized for academic excellence and their involvement in the community. Solomen has served on numerous committees for the NCAA and the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and is the first woman to chair the NCAA Division III Football Committee. She was also named one of NACDA's athletic directors of the year in 2003.
Frank O'Brien
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point West region
After 20 years as AD at the university, O'Brien is set to retire this year. Under his watch, the school has won 78 conference championships and 15 of its 20 athletic teams have made Final Four appearances. O'Brien was instrumental in the development of women's hockey as a varsity sport, and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association women's playoff trophy was named the O'Brien Cup in his honor in 2006.
Junior College/Community College
Mick McDaniel
Tompkins Cortland Community College Northeast region
McDaniel started his professional career as the coordinator of recreation and aquatics at the college and transitioned into the AD position in 2000. He also has coached the men's varsity soccer team, and men's and women's varsity golf, and currently coaches the women's varsity soccer team. He founded and now directs the Youth Sports Camp in the Dryden, N.Y., community.
Jay Mehrhoff
East Central College, Missouri Central region
Mehrhoff is in his eighth year guiding the athletic department, while also serving as an associate professor of physical education. He has overseen the renovation of the school's outdoor athletic facilities, acquired new scoreboards through sponsorships, and created an interactive touch-screen athletics hall of fame through fundraising and grant writing. He has served as Midwest Community College Athletic Conference president since 2005.

Christopher Parker
Patrick Henry Community College Southeast region
Parker was hired as AD in 2006 to transition club sports into varsity intercollegiate athletics, making Patrick Henry the first community college in Virginia to do so. In his first two years, the college went from offering two men's sports to offering a complete slate of men's and women's sports, with the latest addition, men's and women's soccer, set to start competition in 2011-12.
John Volek
Sierra College West region
Volek was a student athlete at Sierra 45 years ago, and now is in his eighth year as the associate dean of athletics and recreation. Since 2003, Sierra has shown resurgence in state championships, conference titles and facility improvements, including a new football stadium, tennis courts and softball and baseball fields. In 2010, he was inducted as a player and administrator at the Sierra College Hall of Fame.
NAIA
Bill Ashby
University of Maine at Fort Kent
Northeast region
Since becoming AD five years ago, Ashby has enjoyed success as an administrator and as a soccer coach. Under his guidance, the Bengals have won 26 regular-season and Sunrise Conference tournament championships. The men's soccer team, under Ashby's coaching, has been ranked in the NAIA top 25 for 40 straight weeks, spanning four years of play. He has been named the Sunrise Conference Coach of the Year four times.
Thomas Smith
Missouri Baptist University Central region
Smith has overseen 17 new athletic programs that have added 400 student athletes to the campus. Now in his ninth year as AD, Smith also serves as a professor on campus and works closely with other faculty to improve the academic performance of student-athletes. The MBU athletics department has received the NAIA Champions of Character Award for eight years.

Rusty Hollingsworth
Campbellsville University Southeast region
Hollingsworth is in his 10th year as AD and has overseen the addition of five sports, building Campbellsville's roster to 15 sports and 23 teams. In 2009-10 the athletic department raised $1.2 million for facility upgrades. The department has constructed an indoor practice facility, lighted tennis courts, the Gosser Gymnasium for wrestling, the Hawkins Athletic Complex and weight room, and installed turf and lights on the football stadium.
gary Picone
Lewis-Clark State College
West region
Picone led the college's athletic program from 1992- 2000 and returned to that role in 2006. In each of the past two years, 11 sports have qualified teams or individuals for NAIA national tournaments. Picone helped bring the Avista NAIA World Series back to Lewiston, Idaho, and oversaw nearly $1 million in improvements to Harris Field, home of the series.

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