Troy Dannen Named Tulane's Director of Athletics

Dec. 4, 2015

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NEW ORLEANS -- Tulane University President Michael Fitts formally introduced Troy Dannen today as the new Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair for the Green Wave. Dannen will begin his job duties immediately.

"Troy has demonstrated outstanding leadership and success in every job, at every level," Fitts said. "His dedication to his student-athletes and his goal to win championships in every sport are testament to his enthusiasm and his dedication to his profession."

"On a personal note, I know that Troy's engaging personality, warmth and tremendous energy level will endear him to our student-athletes and fans," Fitts added.

Dannen comes to Tulane after serving eight seasons in the same capacity at his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) from 2008-15. He brings 27 years of athletic administration, including the last 13 years as a chief executive officer, to Tulane Athletics.

"The commitment and competitive support from everyone from the president to the board was one of the many reasons for my interest in this great opportunity at Tulane," Dannen said. "The people I met at Tulane are phenomenal and they have built a terrific infrastructure; now it is time to win."

During Dannen's tenure at UNI, the Panthers enjoyed an incredible run of success at both the conference and national level. The successes extend beyond the competitive and include unprecedented academic, fund-raising, business operations and marketing achievement. As a result, Dannen was honored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as Under Armour AD-of- the-Year (ADOY) in 2014.

UNI successfully generated gift commitments totaling $27 million in the recently completed "Imagine the Impact" institutional fund-raising campaign -- which exceeded the institutional target of $15 million by 80 percent. UNI also saw its commitments to athletic scholarship endowments increase by 300 percent since 2008.

He negotiated multi-year marketing deals with Learfield Sports (multi-media rights), Learfield-IMG Ticket Solutions (tickets) and Nike (apparel and equipment).

As a by-product of these areas off the field successes, UNI athletics thrived on the playing field. UNI recognized 39 All-Americans, 13 Coaches of the Year and nine Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Players of the Year. Football, men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and softball combined to reach 14 NCAA Tournaments since 2008. Under head coach Doug Schwab, who Dannen hired in 2010, the Panther wrestling program rose to national prominence with the only perfect NCAA Division I record (13-0) in 2013-14.

Born and raised on a farm near Marshalltown, Iowa, Dannen, 48, received his bachelor's degree in communications from UNI in 1989.

He is married to his wife, Amy, who works for Astra-Zenica Pharmaceuticals, and has three daughters: Elle, Emily and Holly and a son: William.

Tulane University Athletics

Troy Dannen Named Tulane's Director of Athletics

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