Jacoby Chosen as Recipient of the 21st NACDA/NIT Award

Cleveland, Ohio - Fred Jacoby, former commissioner of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and Mid-American Conference (MAC) and current commissioner of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and American Southwest Conference (ASC), has been chosen by the National Invitation Tournament and NACDA to be the recipient of the 21st NACDA/NIT Athletics Directors Award.

Jacoby will receive his award at the 37th Annual Convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), June 16-19. The ceremony will be held on Monday, June 17, at the James J. Corbett Awards Luncheon. The Convention is being held at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

Jacoby has 53 years of experience in coaching and athletics administration, including 10 as a high school coach, eight as an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin and 35 as a conference commissioner. He was the first commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference from 1966-71. He later served at the MAC from 1971-82; the SWC from 1982-93; and the LSC, beginning in 1995 and the ASC, beginning in 1996. He is still at the last two posts.

Jacoby integrated women's athletics into both the MAC (1976) and the SWC (1983). At the MAC, he became the first commissioner of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, expanding it into one of the strongest hockey conferences in the NCAA.

At the SWC, Jacoby facilitated the change in the conference's constitution making the SWC Council of Presidents the main governing body. He encouraged the development of cross country and track and field to compete on a national level. In 1988, 47 SWC student-athletes, coaches and managers took part in the Olympic Games. Four years later, that number grew to 73 SWC participants and officials.

Following a one-year retirement (1994), Jacoby assumed the head spot at the Division II LSC and the Division III ASC. He led the expansion of the LSC from seven to 15 members and the ASC from eight to 16 members.

On the national level, Jacoby served as chair of the National Letter of Intent Program for the longest tenure in the program's history, 22 years. He is past president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, chair of the NCAA committees on Membership Structure, Postgraduate Scholarship, Research and Championship Standards. He is currently on the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Team Selection Committee.

Jacoby graduated from Ohio State University and received his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin.

On receiving word of this award, Jacoby said, "I am overwhelmed and humbled to receive the 2002 NACDA/NIT Athletics Director Award when there are so many others just as deserving. This is one of the greatest awards one can receive, especially when the award is from your colleagues and peers. Many of the past recipients are good friends and it will be a distinct honor to join such an illustrious group."

Past winners of the NACDA/NIT Athletics Directors Award include: