direCTor of aThleTiCs: ken kavanaGh Ken Kavanagh, 49, begins his first year as Director of Athletics at Florida Gulf Coast University, having accomplished a great deal in his career to date. Kavanagh, the second full-time athletic director in school history, began his duties at FGCU in June of 2009. Kavanagh, who came to FGCU after 13 years at Bradley University, was appointed to his position on May 7, 2009 by FGCU President Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw. The final year in Kavanagh’s first decade on Bradley’s “Hilltop” will go down as one of the greatest all-around years in BU Athletics history. During the 2005-06 season, a school-record three teams earned NCAA Tournament invitations, beginning with the third at-large selection for the soccer program in the fall and continuing with the men’s basketball team’s historic run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in March that included victories over nationally ranked Kansas and Pitt. In addition, the women’s golf team won its fourth Missouri Valley Conference championship in eight years to gain its third trip to the NCAA Regionals. In 2007-08, Men’s Soccer reached a milestone “Elite Eight” appearance and men’s basketball also achieved a runner-up finish in the 2008 initial College Basketball Invitational (CIT). Most recently, in 2008-09, the Braves witnessed benchmark success with their first ever Missouri Valley Conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth and victory in softball, a runner-up finish in the inaugural Collegeinsider.com (CIT) post-season men’s basketball tournament and a record 21 victories in women’s basketball. While the Braves enjoyed successes on the playing field with Kavanagh, Bradley’s student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom. For eight consecutive years, Bradley led the Valley in federal graduation rate (77 percent) and remained well ahead of the curve in the NCAA’s new Academic Progress Rate, receiving public recognition for its APR success in soccer, men’s golf, women’s tennis and volleyball. Prior to the start of the 2007-08 athletic season, Bradley’s women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, softball, women’s track and field and volleyball teams all were recognized once again for being among the national leaders in their respective sports for team grade point averages, while four individuals representing three sports (baseball, women’s golf and soccer) went on to gain national scholar-athlete honors in 2006-07. Bradley’s student-athletes combined for a record 3.21 grade point average during the 2009 Spring semester and met or exceeded Bradley’s competitive overall undergraduate population for 20 of 26 semesters. In addition to its graduation rate success, Bradley also tied for seventh nationally (with Harvard and the U.S. Naval Academy) in the initial NCAA Academic Progress Report released during the spring of 2005. During Kavanagh’s tenure at Bradley, the Braves accumulated 31 Academic All-America or Scholar All-America awards. BU also achieved new single game, regular season and attendance marks in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s soccer, and volleyball under his direction, as well as record revenue streams from external sources. Kavanagh helped Bradley’s Athletic facilities make significant strides during his tenure: most notably, the baseball team’s move to O’Brien Field (home Stadium of the Chicago Cubs Class “A” affiliate the Peoria Chiefs) in 2002 and the subsequent transformation of the old ballpark into Shea Stadium. Opened in August of 2003, this soccer exclusive venue is one of the finest of its kind in the entire Midwest. Additional enhancements included aesthetic aspects of Carver Arena (home venue for men’s basketball) and Haussler Hall (athletic complex), locker room improvements for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, as well as upgrades to the sports medicine training, department offices, Bradley Park softball complex and the realization of the Markin Tennis Courts. Most recently, Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse underwent a transformation during the summer of 2004, highlighted by the construction of a new strength and conditioning facility, satellite training area, women’s basketball offices and student-athlete study center. Under Kavanagh’s direction in 1996, Bradley Athletics established the BU B.L.A.S.T. (Building Leadership And Supporting Teams) NCAA Life Skills Program, which is designed to enhance the total being of Braves’ student-athletes. It involves activities ranging from personal, social and career development to community service projects and leadership opportunities. Also, Bradley was commended in March of 2002 by U.S. News & World Report for having the seventh-best College Sports Program in terms of gender equity and the athletic department’s effort for equality was further recognized in 2007 when Bradley received an “A” from the Women’s Sports Foundation for its gender equity performance. Kavanagh served a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee, a panel that he chaired in 2007. This body is responsible for selecting the 48 teams that compete in the NCAA Tournament and oversees the administration of the event. He served two terms as the vice-president of the Missouri Valley Conference joint committee and was also a member of the MVC’s Executive and Media/Marketing Committees. He also chaired the MVC’s Championship and Officiating Committees and was a member of the MVC’s Gender Equity, Sportsmanship and Conference Relations Committees. One of the founders of the I-AAA Athletic Directors’ Association in 2000-01, Kavanagh is the Third Vice-President for the organization, which is comprised of the 101 non-football playing Division I member institutions and nine related conferences. In recognition of his accomplishments at Bradley and as a leader in college athletics, Kavanagh was named the Central Region Division I AstroTurf Athletic Director of the Year during the 2008 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Dallas.
The ken kavanagh File FaMIlY Wife: Mary (married April 16, 1988) Children: the late Megan, Rose (18), Mitchell (16) and twins Jack and Quinn (13)
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• 1982 - Boston College, B.S. in Finance • 1987 - University of Notre Dame, M.B.A. in Marketing and Human Resources
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Also active in civic organizations, Kavanagh has previously served on the advisory boards for the Salvation Army and Dunlap Recreation Association and he is a long-standing current board member and three-term past president of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Peoria. A member of the 1999 Peoria’s “40 Leaders Under Forty” class, Kavanagh also maintains active membership with the Knights of Columbus. Kavanagh went to Bradley from Bowling Green State University, where he steadily moved up the administrative ranks in nine years. After starting as an assistant athletic director in 1987, Kavanagh left BGSU in 1996 as the senior associate athletic director. In his final position with the Falcons, Kavanagh was the administrator for football, men’s basketball and hockey while also acting as event manager. Responsible for facility management, he also supervised the staffs for sports medicine, equipment and strength and conditioning. Kavanagh also served as the chief liaison for the financial affairs area. Kavanagh began his administrative career by working in the athletic department at Yale University from 1982 to 1985, then worked as a graduate assistant in the athletic department at the University of Notre Dame from 1985 to 1987 before joining Bowling Green.
• 1982-83 - Assistant Manager of Contests and Promotions, Yale University • 1983-85 - Director of Events and Team Travel, Yale University • 1985-87 - Graduate Assistant, University of Notre Dame • 1987-96 - Rose to Senior Associate Athletic Director, Bowling Green State University • 1996-2009 - Director of Athletics, Bradley University
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• 2009-Present - Director of Athletics, Florida Gulf Coast University
Athletic administration runs in Kavanagh’s bloodlines: his uncle, Kevin Kavanagh, is the former baseball coach and athletic director at Loyola College in Baltimore, planting the seed that athletic administration would be his nephew’s calling. Likewise, Ken Kavanagh’s father, John, coached a highlysuccessful high school summer baseball program in Connecticut for 25 years that produced former Major Leaguer Tim Teufel and NFL Hall-of-Famer Steve Young. A native of Greenwich, Conn., Kavanagh earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1982 and his postgraduate degree from Notre Dame in 1987. Kavanagh is married to the former Mary Gorenz (Maple Park, Ill.) and the couple has five children: daughters the late Megan and Rose (18), as well as sons Mitchell (16) and twins Jack and Quinn (13).