Penn State University Dave Joyner Athletic Director David M. Joyner was named Penn State’s Director of Athletics on January 21, 2013. He had served as the Acting Director of Athletics since November 16, 2011. A two-sport All-American and Academic All-American at Penn State, Joyner is a former sports medicine physician and health care and business consultant who provides a strong background in department budget, facilities, fundraising and personnel management. Joyner oversees an athletic department with more than 800 student-athletes and 300 staff members that expanded to 31 varsity sports in 2012-13 with the launch of NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey. Penn State’s 31 sports are tied for third-highest in the nation among Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. Joyner’s mantra for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics is IAC — Integrity, Academics and Championships — and the 2012-13 academic year provided a substantial list of accomplishments in all three core areas. In his first full year as Athletic Director, he provided the leadership for one of the most successful years in Penn State’s glorious history of student-athlete academic and athletic success. Penn State student-athletes captured a school-record 11 conference championships in 2012-13, including a record eight Big Ten titles, the most of any conference institution. Twenty-one of 31 teams were represented in their respective NCAA Championship, with the wrestling team capturing a third consecutive national title. A Penn State-record eight head coaches were selected Big Ten Coach-of-theYear in 2012-13, including football coach Bill O’Brien. Joyner led the search that identified and hired O’Brien in January 2012. Penn State was No. 6 in the final 2012-13 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, its highest finish in 10 years. A school-record 296 Penn State studentathletes earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades during the 2012-13 academic year, crushing the previous record of 261. Seven Penn State student-athletes
attained Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America® accolades in 2012-13, including three first-team honorees. Six teams compiled perfect multi-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores of 1,000 and the average multi-year APR score for Penn State’s varsity teams was 984, easily above the Division I average of 974. Founder, Chairman and CEO of Joyner Sports Medicine Institute (JSI) from 1992-98, he developed and managed 19 physical therapy centers and 350 employees in eight states to deliver state-of-the-art training and rehabilitation services honed by U.S. Olympic and Elite Medical Team experience and leadership.
Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Committee and the vice-chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Anti-Doping Committee. He currently is a member of the medical commission of the Pan American Sports Organization. Joyner served on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and has served as Chairman of USA Football’s Football and Wellness Committee and has been an emeritus member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.
Closely involved with numerous campus initiatives, Joyner has served as a member of the Penn State Libraries Development Advisory Board, co-chairman of the Paterno Libraries Endowment, chairman of the external advisory board for the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence and the Schreyer Honors College.
An offensive tackle from 1969-71, Joyner earned first-team All-America honors his senior season and was a team co-captain. He was instrumental in helping the Nittany Lions compile a cumulative 29-4 record, including an 11-0 mark in 1969, with victories in the 1970 Orange and 1972 Cotton bowls. Joyner also was a standout wrestler from 1970-72, gaining All-America honors by finishing as the NCAA runner-up at heavyweight in 1971.
In 2003, as chairman of the Penn State Athletic Campaign Committee, he led a five-year effort to raise $130 million for the athletic department, far surpassing the campaign’s $100 million goal. During the same period, as a member of the Executive Committee of the University’s Leadership Gifts Committee, he helped achieve the University’s goal to raise $745 million. He also has been a member of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center Capital Campaign Committee.
Joyner was named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1971 and is one of a select group of individuals who have been inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame, which honors “those with the highest standards in college academics, athletics and in life beyond athletics.” Joyner also received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship as a Penn State student-athlete and was selected for the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in 1997.
A member of the Penn State Board of Trustees from 2000 until the date of his appointment with Intercollegiate Athletics, Joyner was honored in 1992 as a Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State. He currently is a member of the board of directors of The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Joyner was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1993.
Joyner’s work with the U.S. Olympic Committee includes service as head physician to the United States’ teams at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games, the 1991 World University Games and the 1989 United States Olympic Festival. He is a past chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Society. Joyner served as the chairman of the U.S.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in science in 1972 and his M.D. from Penn State’s College of Medicine in 1976. Following residencies in general and orthopedic surgery at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and a stint in the World Football League, Joyner began a medical career with a sports medicine emphasis. Joyner’s sons, Andy and Matt, also played football at Penn State and are graduates of the University. 87 2013-14 // Welcome to Hockey Valley