May 11, 2009

CLEVELAND - The Officers and Executive Committee of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) have selected their award recipients for the 2008-09 year.

Award recipients include John Montgomery, University of North Carolina, as the University Division Fund Raiser of the Year; Haila Kauffman, University of Texas, as the Lifetime Achievement Award Winner; Curtis & Jacqueline Dail, North Carolina State University, as the University Division Donor of the Year; Dan DeRose, Colorado State University Pueblo, as the College Division Donor of the Year; and Don Scharf, Yale University, as the University Division Volunteer of the Year.

Award winners will be recognized at NAADD's 16th Annual Convention, June 18-21 at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida. On Friday, June 19, the winners will also be honored during the Learfield Sports Academy Directors' Cup Luncheon sponsored by NCAA Football. Brief biographical sketches of each honoree are below.

JOHN MONTGOMERY, University of North Carolina - University Division Fund Raiser of the Year

As Senior Associate Athletics Director and Executive Director of The Educational Foundation/Rams Club, John Montgomery has led a dynamic fundraising organization for the past eight years. The Rams Club raised $250 million as part of the $2.4 billion university-wide Carolina First Campaign that ended in 2007. The funding raised during the Carolina First Campaign was in support of scholarships, facilities, sport operating endowments and student-athlete support services. In 2008, The Rams Club built on the momentum gained during the campaign, and raised more than $35 million in gifts and pledges. During Montgomery's tenure, he and his staff have grown membership to 15,500, and worked to increase the annual fund to $11 million. Also, more than $60 million has been raised for capital projects, and the scholarship endowment has grown from $85 million to $200 million. New initiatives include the creation and continued focus on growing Sport Operating Endowments and expanding The Rams Club's planned giving society - Carolina Forever. Montgomery continues to lead the organization based on a commitment to membership growth, financial responsibility, donor service and staff development. Montgomery, who has led the fundraising efforts at his alma mater Radford, North Carolina Greensboro and Southern Methodist, lives in Chapel Hill with his wife Sharie and their sons Ryan and Patrick. He received his bachelor's degree from Radford and his master's degree from Western Illinois.

HAILA KAUFFMAN, University of Texas - Lifetime Achievement Award

Haila Kauffman has been with the University of Texas intercollegiate athletics department since 1977, Earl Campbell's Heisman year, and decided every year was supposed to be like that year. She then worked for the great Darrell Royal as he served as athletics director. Men's Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds asked Craig Helwig and Haila Kauffman to start the Longhorn Foundation in 1985 to raise annual funds for intercollegiate athletics. Before the Longhorn Foundation was started, approximately $250,000 was raised annually. After the umbrella of the Longhorn Foundation was put in place in 1985, with a benefit chart showing what a donor would receive, the Foundation immediately jumped to $1 million in annual donations. Since Chris Plonsky became women's athletics director in 2001, she and Dodds have been innovative in supporting the fundraising staff in exploring and funding new revenue streams. Since the start of the Foundation, approximately $293 million has been raised for Texas athletics. Kauffman attended Nixon Clay College and the University of Texas. She and her husband Bobby Kauffman have been married for 42 years, have one son Scott, daughter-in-law Sarah, and the joy of their hearts and future Longhorn, four-year old grandson Luke.

CURTIS AND JACQUELINE DAIL, North Carolina State University - University Division Donor of the Year

If you know anything about North Carolina State University, you know the Dail name. Over the course of the past seven years, Curtis and Jacqueline Dail have given monies towards campus facilities (baseball, tennis, softball, football, basketball and soccer), while also committing scholarship endowments for all 23 Wolfpack sports; and a $100,000 operating endowment for each of the 23 sports. In 1975, the Dail's purchased two Hardee's restaurant franchises, which began a successful career in the restaurant business. They eventually owned 24 Hardee's and expanded their horizons into commercial real estate. The Dail's now own numerous shopping centers across North and South Carolina, along with business rental properties and Batteries Plus franchises. Many campus facilities bare the Dail name, including the Dail Softball Stadium, Dail Park (baseball) and the Dail Club (football club seating area) and on any given game-day, the Dail's may be found on campus cheering on the Wolfpack teams. Although neither Curtis or Jacqueline attended N.C. State, their support has been felt across campus, not just athletics. The Dail's contributed $1.5 million to N.C. State's alumni center and $200,000 to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Since 2002, the Dail's have committed close to $27 million to the Wolfpack Club in support of NC State athletics.

DAN DeROSE, Colorado State University Pueblo - College Division Donor of the Year

Former Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU-Pueblo) Athletics Director Dan DeRose, president of DD Marketing, created and serves as the president of Friends of Football, a 501 (c)3 organization, with the CSU-Pueblo department of athletics as the benefactor. Being the driving force in the reinstatement of football, wrestling and women's track & field at an institution is no small feat, and this year's Donor of the Year for the College Division helped make those reinstatements at CSU-Pueblo possible through his generous giving. Not only did DeRose contribute $3.5 million of his own dollars to Friends of Football, but he initiated a fundraising campaign that generated more than $11 million. With the donated money, Friends of Football built a football/track facility named the Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl, which includes a 24,000-square-foot field house containing coaches offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, an equipment room, a training room, a 4,000-square-foot weight room and a student-athlete study room. The ThunderBowl itself seats 6,412 people with room for an additional 3,000 spectators. DeRose has worn many hats at CSU-Pueblo, beginning as an All-American on the ThunderWolves football team. He was later an assistant coach, and then served as athletics director from 1990-95 when his fundraising efforts earned him the 1995 NAADD College Division Fund Raiser of the Year Award.

DON SCHARF, Yale University - University Division Volunteer of the Year

Special Volunteer Assistant for Athletics Development & Community Outreach Don Scharf has spent most of his adult life doing everything in his power to make a beneficial and positive impact on Yale University athletics for its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans. The class of 1955 graduate has been a full-time volunteer in the athletics department as a fundraiser, friend-raiser, committee member and alumni association board member, and his lifetime commitment and generosity toward Yale athletics is truly unprecedented. Scharf's commitment to Yale goes far beyond numbers, but with that said, he still managed to single-handedly raise $100,000 of sponsorships as a member of the organizing committee for the Blue Leadership Ball, a bi-annual event that recognizes Yale student-athletes who have made significant contributions in various academic fields. Scharf serves as the chairman of the Yale Youth Day Committee, which provides opportunities for youth in the New Haven area to attend football, basketball and hockey games while participating in clinics with varsity student-athletes. He is also an advisory board member on the award-winning National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) at Yale, a five-week summer sports and education program for more than 250 inner-city children. Scharf has also been instrumental in helping to procure summer jobs for Yale student-athletes.

About NAADD: NAADD is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities, enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics, and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics development and fund raising. For more information about NAADD, please visit www.naadd.com. NAADD is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 44th year. For more information on NACDA and the 11 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.