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Current time at Stony Brook 5:43 a.m. Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Jim Fiore
Director of Athletics, Stony Brook University
On July 23, 2003, President Shirley Strum Kenny introduced Jim Fiore as the ninth Director of Athletics in Stony Brook University history stating "Jim has the energy, drive, enthusiasm and intelligence to take this program, in the tradition of Stony Brook, very far, very fast." At the time of his hire Fiore was one of the youngest Directors of Athletics in NCAA Division I. Since his arrival at Stony Book from Princeton University in August 2003, Fiore has hit the ground running and pointed Stony Brook on an aggressive course for success in all aspects of intercollegiate athletics. He has undertaken a major restructuring of the intercollegiate athletics program including the hiring of new coaching and administrative staff, dramatic facility upgrades and improved revenue generation. Fiore's vision for Stony Brook Athletics has resulted in unprecedented growth for the program. Following its championship season in 2005, the football program was elevated to the NCAA I-AA scholarship level and in April 2006, Fiore announced that the program would upgrade to Independent status for the 2007 season and accepted an invitation into the Big South Conference as an associate member for football only. In doing so, he has assured the long-term future of Stony Brook football, enabling it to eventually compete for a national championship alongside institutions with similar academic and athletic standards. In addition, his dynamic imaging and branding campaign has given Stony Brook Athletics a national scope. During the 2005-2006 academic year, Stony Brook inked a television deal with Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network to broadcast a multi-game package during the 2006-2007 academic year, the first television deal in the program's history. In January 2006, the department also launched The Stony Brook Sports Report, a 30-week television show that is produced on campus and aired nationally on CSTV. Fiore also spearheaded the bid that resulted in Stony Brook being awarded the opportunity to host the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse North Quarterfinals in May 2006. Fiore's grand design has produced dramatic results and a series of firsts for Stony Brook. In 2004 the baseball team won its first America East title and went to the NCAA Tournament. In the fall of 2005, the football program secured its first-ever conference title in its Division I history. On the same day that the football team won a championship, the men's soccer team capped off its regular season title by capturing its first America East tournament crown to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The men's soccer team went on to notch Stony Brook's first NCAA playoff victory with a first-round win over Yale. Success continued during the winter months as the women's basketball team put together the second-best turnaround in Division I, going from 8-20 in 2004-2005 to a 20-10 mark in 2005-2006. Along the way, the team defeated nationally-ranked Temple en route to receiving the program's first-ever postseason bid, a trip to the 2006 WNIT. In the spring of 2005, the men's lacrosse team garnered its first-ever Top 20 ranking in the 16-year history of the program and is now regularly ranked in the top-20. Under Fiore's leadership Stony Brook won its first ever Division I conference championships in women's sports in 2007 as the women's lacrosse, cross country and volleyball teams all won titles. Fiore has also turned his attention to department-wide fundraising efforts, with his efforts seeing an increase of over 55 percent in both annual giving revenue and number of donors. In an effort to take a lead role in the university's $300 million capital campaign, the Department of Athletics has secured several major gifts, two of which were the largest philanthropic gifts given to athletics in its history. In July 2005, Fiore hired a Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Services & Advancement and adopted a new philosophy for the annual Providing Athletes With Support (P.A.W.S.) fundraising campaign, a philosophy that streamlined the annual fundraising process to prepare Stony Brook to exceed all fundraising expectations in the future. In addition, he created the Athletic Director Advisory Council; a 19-member board comprised of Stony Brook alumni, staff and community members that will advise Fiore in the fundraising advancement process. His attention to the bottom line resulted in a new athletic department budget process that relieved the department of an annual systemic deficit, resulting in a balanced budget for the 2004-2005 academic year, the first time that Stony Brook has realized that goal since moving to the Division I level. Fiore has seen the department balance its budget every year since and has overseen a budget growth from $9 million to $14 million. Beginning in the '04-'05 academic year Stony Brook University Athletics realized a near 20 percent increase in its operating budget due to new revenue streams for the department. Additionally, Stony Brook has teamed up with Islanders Media Inc. as the athletic department continues to nurture and foster strong bonds with the Long Island corporate community. Fiore has secured $30 million from New York State for athletic facility renovations to the Stony Brook University Basketball Arena, Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium and various other athletic facilities. In December 2003, Stony Brook retained HOK, the premier sports architectural firm in the nation, to formulate and develop a master plan for the future of Stony Brook athletic facilities. The blueprint has already begun to take hold: the baseball/softball complex received a facelift with the addition of new bleachers and press boxes, the strength and conditioning facility was renovated and expanded, the Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium is going to have a $6 million expansion that will include increasing seating by 2,000 and new Club and V.I.P. seating. Additionally a $20 million renovation of the Stony Brook University Basketball arena will commence in Spring 2008 as well as a $1.2 million renovation to the Pritchard Gymnasium complex. The football, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and visiting team locker rooms in LaValle Stadium were recently redesigned and enhanced for $1,000,000. Under Fiore's leadership, Stony Brook student-athletes have also attained new levels of achievement in the classroom. Since his arrival the GPA for student-athletes has risen from 2.86 in 2003 to a 3.11 in the fall of 2007. The '06-'07 academic year proved to be Stony Brook's most successful season academically as its student-athletes compiled a department best overall G.P.A. of 3.01 and saw 157 student-athletes named to the America East honor roll - the most since joining the America East in 2001. In the fall of 2007, 15 of 20 teams earned team GPAs above 3.0 and 71 percent of Stony Brook's student-athletes were named to the America East Honor Roll or the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll for earning above a 3.0 or 3.5 GPA respectively. Coinciding with this success, Stony Brook unveiled the new Goldstein Student-Athlete Development Center in the spring of 2006, a center made possible through a $1.2 million gift from Stony Brook alum and former All-American squash player Stuart Goldstein '74. The 6,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility can accommodate over 400 student-athletes and features a computer lab, a study hall/multipurpose function room, a career resource/library area and several private tutor rooms. During his tenure Fiore has also guided Stony Brook through the essential and formative NCAA Certification process, helped redesign the athletic logo and athletic website, developed a new comprehensive student-athlete exit survey and head coach performance evaluation instrument, implemented mandatory drug testing, and unveiled an athletic department strategic plan through 2011. Fiore also has instituted a "Book of the Year" program for coaches and staff which highlights important topics relevant to professional and personal development, culminating with the author's visit to campus and discussion with the entire staff. In the fall of 2004, Fiore implemented a Minority Apprentice program to assist in the development of young professionals in intercollegiate athletics. His list of accomplishments has not gone unnoticed. In December 2007 Fiore was named the Sports Man of the Year by The Village Times Herald and in the fall of 2004 he was recognized by the Long Island Business Association as one of the Top 40 executives under the age of 40 on Long Island. Fiore currently serves on University President Shirley Strum Kenny's Cabinet and was also appointed by Kenny to co-chair the strategic plan for image and identity committee. He has also served on the honorary degree, weekend life, NCAA certification and the university sponsorship committees. In 2005 he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the America East Conference and currently serves as the of Chairman the group. Fiore also is a member of the NCAA Division I Championship and Competition Cabinet and the NCAA Division I Misconduct Appeals Sub-committee. Recently, he was named to the Dowling College Sports Management Board of Directors and in June 2004, Fiore was a featured speaker at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention in Dallas, Texas. Prior to his arrival at Stony Brook, he provided department-wide leadership in support of the director of athletics at Princeton University from 1999-2003, a program that supports 38 sports, 40 club sports programs and more than 1,000 student-athletes. A member of the senior management team, he was responsible for all athletic programming oversight of all varsity intercollegiate programs. In addition, Fiore directed all personnel matters including the coordination of national searches for coaches, staff and administrative positions. Along with the director of athletics, he also assisted in the planning for short and long-term capital improvements. During Fiore's tenure, Princeton achieved extraordinary success on the fields of play and in the classroom. Princeton finished among the Top 25 in the Director's Cup standings in three of the four years he was there and is the only non-scholarship institution to ever finish in the Top 25. From 1999-2003, Princeton teams combined to win 60 Ivy League championships and nine national championships. From 1995-1998, Fiore was the Assistant Director of Athletics for Intercollegiate Programming at Dartmouth College where he assisted with the daily operation and supervision of Dartmouth's comprehensive 34-sport program. Prior to Dartmouth, Fiore interned at Princeton (1994-1995) for one year during which he assisted the director of athletics on assigned projects. He began his career as a graduate assistant at Springfield College before moving on to be an assistant to the Executive Director of the National Invitation Tournament during the spring and summer of 1993. One year later he took an internship in the compliance office at Fordham University. A native of Long Beach, N.Y, Fiore graduated from Long Beach High School and went on to attain his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hofstra University, where he played free safety for the football team. Upon graduation from Hofstra, Fiore went on to receive a master's degree in Education from Springfield College. Additionally, he received a certificate from The Sports Management Institute held at the University of Notre Dame and University of South Carolina. Fiore and his wife Lisa have a son Michael who is six years old. They currently reside in Stony Brook.
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