June 1, 2006

Cleveland, Ohio --The Officers and Executive Committee of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) have selected their award recipients for the 2005-06 year.

Award recipients include Robert Wakefield of Brigham Young University as the Volunteer of the Year; Brian Mackin of the University of Alabama Birmingham as the University Division Fund Raiser of the Year; Steve Meeker of Black Hills State University as the College Division Fund Raiser of the Year; George and Frances Wilkins of Northern Illinois University as the University Division Donor of the Year; and John and Erika Lockridge of Colorado School of Mines as the College Division Donor of the Year. Additionally, Kristina Meissen of the University of Wisconsin La Crosse received the NAADD Postgraduate Scholarship.

Meissen will receive a $2,000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies. She was required to have a minimum GPA of 3.0, be a full-time senior and be planning to pursue a graduate degree in intercollegiate athletics administration with an emphasis on collegiate fund raising.

Award winners will be recognized at NAADD's 13th Annual Convention, June 20-23 at the New Orleans Marriott and Sheraton New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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.

NAADD is administered by NACDA, now in its 41st year, is the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 college athletics administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 2,000 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention. Additionally, NACDA administers nine professional associations for the separate business units that report directly to the athletics director.

A brief biological sketch of each of the honorees follows:

Volunteer of the Year
Robert Wakefield, Brigham Young University
Robert Wakefield was the Cougar Club's first chapter president in the state of Washington where he recruited donors, organized events for BYU fans and teams and led the charge in contributions. He made thousands of dollars in personal donations to the Cougar Club that still rank him among BYU's Legacy Donors (top 10 percent). When Wakefield moved to Utah in 2003, he and his wife, Cindy, offered to become full-time volunteers. They work for the athletics department from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, and then supervise student activities and usher BYU sporting events in the evenings. Together, they are advisors of the Cougar Council, mentoring 42 student-athletes from all 21 BYU teams; and providing input to BYU's athletics administration and leadership to student-athletes. This year, Wakefield helped implement the Y-Games, a program in which each team picks an important home competition that every other team is required to attend. Not only does it increase attendance by more than 500 fans, it helps create program unity and school spirit. He also directs the involvement of BYU student-athletes in the community, coordinating requests for service and speaking engagements. Due to his professional background as president of two Fortune 500 companies, he teaches financial and leadership classes for BYU's Champs Life Skills program. Last year, the Wakefields were honored as the BYU Athletics Department Volunteers of the Year.

Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient
Kristina Meissen, University of Wisconsin La Crosse
An exercise and sports science major specializing in sports management, business administration and strength and conditioning, Kristina Meissen earned a 4.0 GPA from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. As the head of promotions for the student chapter of the National Strength and Conditioning Association at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Meissen established the schedule of events and designed promotional materials for special events. She was also a strength and conditioning intern at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she assisted the head women's basketball strength and conditioning coach with all aspects of program implementation and instruction during off-season summer training sessions. Additionally, she was an administrative/strength and conditioning intern at Acceleration Madison and an intramural supervisor at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. Meissen was a member of Madison's novice crew team and volleyball club; and was on the rugby and track and field teams at La Crosse. In the spring of 2005, she earned seventh place in the javelin at the Division III Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference outdoor meet. She also coached several teams including the CRUSH Volleyball Club and the East Side Sharks Track Club. Meissen aspires to pursue graduate school in the fall of 2006.

University Division Fund Raiser of the Year
Brian Mackin, University of Alabama Birmingham
Brian Mackin, senior associate athletics director for external affairs, was hired as the University of Alabama Birmingham's only full-time athletics development officer in June 2002. Since then, Mackin has completely restructured the fund-raising program, with the help of only one full-time assistant and two part-time secretaries. When he inherited the program in 2002, it was generating just over $560,000 with two fund-raising organizations, which were support groups for football and basketball. He merged these two groups into the Blazer Club. Additionally, in 2002, Mackin created the Investor Fund, a group of Birmingham businessmen and women committed to a multi-year gift to insure the preservation and enhancement of the UAB athletics department. Current commitments exceed $4.5 million. In June 2004, UAB hosted its first athletics auction that grossed $85,000 for the Blazer Club. Mackin also established the Champion Club, a new athletics booster group designed to provide a higher level of individual service and access to a select membership. Benefits include two lower level basketball season tickets and two club level football season tickets, along with invitations to special athletics events and team banquets, VIP parking and basketball and football newsletters. Prior to joining the athletics staff at UAB, Mackin served as manager of corporate business development at Vulcan Materials, spending six years in marketing and sales analysis. In 1990, he was a sales manager at Southern Ready Mix before joining Dunn Construction in 1993. By 1999, Mackin was appointed the vice president of Dunn Construction. Mackin was a graduate of UAB in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in finance. He was also a member of the Blazer's baseball team for four seasons.

College Division Fund Raiser of the Year
Steve Meeker, Black Hills State University
Steve Meeker, vice president of institutional advancement at his alma mater, has worked at Black Hills State University for 16 years, joining the athletics staff in 1990. He increased the annual athletics scholarship program from $44,000 in 1990-91 to $435,000 this year. He has brought in close to $3 million in athletics scholarships and, in the last five years, has increased the amount of scholarship money awarded by 92 percent. In 2005-06, he secured a $100,000 pledge for football scholarships and, to create equality, he secured a matching gift for the women's department. He has also cemented close to $1 million in future gifts to BHSU athletics. He also raised funds to create a Hall of Fame room. In the fall of 2003, Meeker became the university's athletics director and, in addition to fund raising, guided the department to six individual national champions, one national champion runner-up, five Region III team championships and six conference championships. Meeker was honored in 2001 when he was selected as the NACMA Marketer of the Year. Meeker had previously worked with the BHSU admissions department for four years as the enrollment management coordinator and director of admissions and records. He received his bachelor's degree in speech from BHSU in 1984.

University Division Donor of the Year
George and Frances Wilkins, Northern Illinois University
Since their introduction to Northern Illinois University Athletics in 2003, Dr. Wilkins and his wife, Fran, have placed themselves in the forefront of Huskie supporters. In 2005, their generosity was highlighted by a $1 million leadership gift that spearheaded the campaign for the new $12 million Academic and Athletic Performance Center. This donation was the third-largest gift to NIU in the 107-year school history. Despite living quite a distance from the NIU campus, the Wilkins family willingly travels extensive distances to personally support Huskie Athletics. Tragically, on one of the trips last September, Dr. Wilkins suffered a massive heart attack and passed away while attending the NIU football game at Northwestern. Frances and her family are still very active in the athletics department and continue to show their support by attending athletics contests and other department special events. Other examples of their year-round support include providing funds for: student-athlete academic service computers; every student-athlete, cheerleader and band member (totaling nearly 700 NIU students) the opportunity to enjoy a dinner hosted at the home of the athletics director; Thanksgiving meals for student-athletes remaining on campus during the university break; and funding for the football team to stay in a hotel each Friday night prior to home football games. From the time the Wilkins set foot on campus three years ago helping their daughter, Elizabeth, relocate for a faculty position in the College of Education, they have been enthusiastic leaders among the NIU donor constituency.

College Division Donor of the Year
John and Erika Lockridge, Colorado School of Mines
John and Erika Lockridge have committed more than $4 million in support of Colorado School of Mines athletics since 1977. In 2001, the Lockridges donated $1 million to establish the Blaster Endowed Scholarship to support four non-resident men's basketball students. In 2005, the Lockridges donated $3 million, the largest single gift to athletics in the 131-year history of the school, to construct a new 96,000-square-foot student recreation center. The 2,500-seat arena will be named "Lockridge Arena". In 2003, the Lockridges were recognized as Outstanding Philanthropic Supporters of the school's athletics program and were inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. John is a 1952 alumnus of the school, where he played basketball. He has been involved in the oil industry since his graduation. In 1973, he was the president of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and, in 1982, was awarded the Mines Distinguished Achievement Medal. John also served for three years on the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association Board of Directors and for three years on the school's Foundation Board. He is currently president of Mountain States Petroleum Corporation. Erika is a film producer for MGM.