Bruce Van De Velde Position: Director of Athletics Email: vandevelde@latech.edu

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Bruce Van De Velde is in his fourth year at Louisiana Tech University and has served 28 years in intercollegiate athletics and higher education as a educator, coach and administrator. Van De Velde was appointed Director of Athletics by Louisiana Tech President Dr. Dan Reneau.

Van De Velde leads a department that fields 16 NCAA Division I sanctioned programs, including nine women's and seven men's sports, that compete in the highly-competitive Western Athletic Conference.

"Bruce is well qualified by national standards to fill the position of athletics director at Louisiana Tech," Reneau said. "I feel that we made an excellent choice in selecting him to lead Tech athletics to national prominence and to serve the needs of our student-athletes."

Van De Velde came to Ruston with a long history of Division I athletic administration experience, including stints as athletics director at Iowa State and Utah State.

"It is an honor to be named as the director of athletics at Louisiana Tech University," Van De Velde said. "I look forward to serving our student-athletes, faculty, staff, alumni and fans. Our vision is to build a program to a level where we can be associated with universities that aspire to academic and athletic excellence at the highest level.

"This goal is consistent with the vision President Reneau has established for the University which is to become north Louisiana's premier national research university. In order to accomplish this vision we must engage all of our 80,000 alumni, fans and supporters and ask them for their participation. It takes resources to achieve our goal, and we need every one to support the program."

During his tenure Van De Velde has been instrumental in a number of accomplishments that have helped further the advancement of the University's athletic department, including:

• Developed and implemented the largest fundraising campaign in athletic department history in the Quest for Excellence, a $20 million capital campaign to upgrade facilities.

• Assisted with the development, negotiation and implementation of a $6.75 million multi-media and marketing rights agreement with Learfield Communications. Contract more than doubled revenue derived from corporate sponsorships and created state-wide radio network for Louisiana Tech athletics.

• Negotiated and signed a partnership with the Aspire Group, forming a Fan Relationship Management Center which will include six sales consultants devoted to selling and serving Louisiana Tech Athletics ticket holders..

• Negotiated a $3.6 million University and athletic department pour rights and corporate sponsorship agreement with Pepsi.

• Reorganized annual giving program doubling the number of donors and increased total annual contributions to the program by 75 percent. Developed marketing efforts to strengthen outreach and established an agenda for growth.

• Led a national search in January of 2010 to hire head football coach Sonny Dykes from the University of Arizona. Also, led a national search in April of 2011 to hire head men's basketball coach Mike White from Ole Miss.

• Student-athlete graduation success rate of 70 percent in 2010 was the highest in the history of the University and one of the tops in the nation. All 16 sports programs were penalty free.

• In 2010, the Louisiana Tech athletic department earned the PRISM Award for excellence in athletics management under Van De Velde's leadership. The department also won the NCAA Pack the House for the Western Athletic Conference all four years for its marketing and promotions effort for women's basketball.

Tech has also seen plenty of success on the fields and courts since Van De Velde's arrival at Tech as the Bulldog football team captured its first bowl victory in more than 30 years with the 2008 Independence Bowl title. The Lady Techster basketball team won the 2009 and 2011 regular season Western Athletic Conference titles, and the 2010 WAC Tournament title while the women's indoor and outdoor track and field teams won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 league titles.

This past year Louisiana Tech recorded its best finish ever in the Western Athletic Conference's Commissioner's Cup, which is an all-sports award based on where each program finishes in the league standings.

The University's student-athletes have also seen success in the classroom since his arrival on campus as this past year saw Tech record a 70 percent student athlete graduation success rate, the highest in its history and one of the tops in the nation.

Numerous individual success stories have also occurred under his leadership including sprinter Antoinette Cobb earning the 2010 Honda Inspiration Award and catcher Clint Ewing becoming a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for their work both on the field of completion and in the classroom.

Van De Velde came to Tech with impressive credentials, having served as an administrator in intercollegiate athletics for over 20 years. Van De Velde served as athletics director at Iowa State University and Utah State University and as a senior administrator at the University of Oklahoma, University of Missouri and Kansas State University.

Van De Velde's tenure at Iowa State University included an unprecedented five bowl appearances in six years and the highest national AP football poll ranking (9th) in school history. Iowa State's 2001 average football attendance of 45,172 reached its highest watermark in 18 years. In 2002 and 2003, total football attendance exceeded 300,000; the most at ISU in two decades.

The emergence of the Cyclone football program on a national stage with Van De Velde at the department helm was affirmed in 2002 when Iowa State was chosen to play No. 1 Florida State University in the Eddie Robinson Classic. During Van De Velde's tenure at Iowa State, the men's and women's basketball teams won Big XII conference championships and participated in the 2001, 2002 and 2005 NCAA basketball tournaments.

Van De Velde, with a track record for generating revenue, increased the total annual operating revenues for the Cyclone athletic department from $19.6 million to $30 million dollars over a five year period. Revenue generated from fundraising, ticket sales, marketing and corporate sponsorships, licensing, radio and television reached all-time highs during his tenure.

In 2005, total fundraising increased from $4.85 million to $8.6 million and the annual giving achieved the highest membership total in its history with more than 5,500 donors participating and a record $4 million dollars in annual contributions. Under Van De Velde's leadership, over 2,000 new donors joined the National Cyclone Club. Including capital project gifts, scholarship endowments and annual contributions, over $40 million dollars was raised from 2001 through 2005.

Iowa State's graduation rate of 89 percent for student-athletes who complete their eligibility was second in the Big XII Conference, and graduation rates for minority student-athletes more than tripled during Van De Velde's tenure. In 2004-05, Iowa State was one of eight universities nationally to have its football team win a bowl game and have its men and women's basketball teams participate in the NCAA tournament. The Sporting News in 2001 rated Iowa State as the seventh best athletic program among more than 115 NCAA Division I-A programs nationally. The ranking considered competitive success, graduation rates, fan support and NCAA compliance to determine national rank.

During his time as athletic director at Utah State University, Van De Velde made his mark by hiring Stew Morrill as the head men's basketball coach. Morrill has guided Utah State to nine straight postseason tournaments and is the winningest coach in the history of the Utah State program.

While serving as the associate athletic director for football operations under head coach Bill Snyder at Kansas State University, Van De Velde was part of the resurrection of Wildcat football in Manhattan as the program became a national power participating in five bowl games. Van De Velde was recipient of the Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Award at the 1997 Holiday Bowl for his contributions to the Kansas State football team when the nationally ranked Wildcats finished with a 10-2 record.

As the senior associate athletic for external affairs at the University of Oklahoma, Van De Velde served as the senior administrative officer for the athletic department and oversaw the areas of fundraising, marketing, corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, media relations and licensing. Van De Velde managed units that generated in excess of $35 million in annual revenues.

Van De Velde directed the Campaign for Sooner Sports, a $100 million dollar capital campaign to fund facility improvements and scholarships. As associate athletic director for development at the University of Missouri, Van De Velde planned and initiated a $50 million dollar capital campaign for facility improvements for the Sports Park at MU.

Van De Velde received the General Robert Neyland Award from the National Football Foundation in 2005 for his service and contributions as an athletic director.

Throughout his career in college athletics, Van De Velde has served on numerous NCAA committees including the Championships and Competition Cabinet, the Football Issues Committee, the Financial Aid Committee and the Peer Review Committee for NCAA certification.

Van De Velde currently serves on the 1A Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee and on the NCAA Football Issues Committee.

He and his wife Debbie, who is a Kansas State alum and who serves as the Development Officer in the LA Tech College of Business, are the proud parents of 11-year-old daughter, Ashley who is entering the fifth grade.