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- Bruce Van De Velde is an American college athletics administrator and football coach. He most recently was the senior associate athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as the athletic director at Iowa State University, Louisiana Tech University and Utah State University. Van De Velde was named the top athletic director in the country in 2005, according to the National Athletic Director's Association. University of Wisconsin-Madison Bruce Van De Velde served as the senior associate athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013 to 2020. Van De Velde oversaw football as well as the administrative areas of development and Badger Sports Properties which includes corporate sponsorships and the state wide radio network. He also oversaw the football booster group Mendota Gridiron Club. In addition, he served as the liaison with the Chancellors Office, UW Alumni Association and the UW Foundation. Van De Velde's oversight led the Badgers to numerous bowl games, including the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl in consecutive years. Louisiana Tech University Van De Velde served as Director of Athletics at Louisiana Tech University from 2010 to July 1, 2013 when he stepped down. From 2008 to 2010, Van De Velde served as Deputy Director of Athletics & Chief Operating Officer at Louisiana Tech University under then-Director of Athletics/Head Football Coach Derek Dooley. During Van De Velde's tenure, LA Tech received an invitation to join Conference USA and left the Western Athletic Conference in July 2013. In 2012, the Louisiana Tech football program received its highest national ranking in school history and was ranked in the BCS for the first time. He was responsible for a compliance program that achieved no major NCAA rules infractions from 2008 to the present. In addition, the student-athlete graduate success rate of 72 percent in 2012 was the highest in the history of the university and one of the top graduation rates in the nation. All 16 sports programs were APR penalty free and eight programs achieved their highest APR in school history. Iowa State University While Van De Velde was the athletic director at Iowa State University, football experienced five bowl appearances in six years and the highest national AP football poll ranking (9th) in school history up to that point. The men's and women's basketball teams won Big XII conference championships and participated in the 2001, 2002 and 2005 NCAA basketball tournaments. Iowa State's graduation rate of 89 percent for student-athletes who complete their eligibility was second in the Big XII Conference, and graduation rates for minority student-athletes more than tripled during Van De Velde's tenure. He increased the total annual operating revenues for the Cyclone athletic department from $19.6 million to $30 million over a five-year period. Revenue generated from fundraising, ticket sales, marketing and corporate sponsorships, licensing, radio and television reached new highs during his tenure. The Sporting News in 2001 rated Iowa State as the seventh best athletic program among more than 115 NCAA Division I-A programs nationally. University of Oklahoma As the senior associate athletic director for external affairs at the University of Oklahoma, Van De Velde served as the senior administrative officer for the athletic department and oversaw the areas of fundraising, marketing, corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, media relations and licensing. Van De Velde managed units that generated in excess of $35 million in annual revenues. Van De Velde directed the Campaign for Sooner Sports, a $100 million dollar capital campaign to fund facility improvements and scholarships. Kansas State University Van De Velde was a part of Bill Snyder's staff at Kansas State University. Snyder and his early aughts group are credited with one of the greatest college football program turnarounds ever. Teams he was associated with participated in the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Peach Bowl, Aloha Bowl, Independence Bowl, Insight.com Bowl, Copper Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl, Orange Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Capital One Bowl, and Outback Bowl. Coaching hires at LA Tech include Skip Holtz (football), Sonny Dykes (football, WAC Coach of the Year), Michael White (men's basketball), and Mark Montgomery (softball). Van De Velde was responsible, while at Iowa State University, for hiring Christie Martens (women's golf) and Christy Johnson-Lynch (volleyball, Big XII Coach of the Year). While at Utah State University, Van De Velde hired Stew Morrill (men's basketball – 5-time WAC Coach of the Year), unequivocally the most successful men's basketball coach in the history of the university. Van De Velde has won many awards and earned many achievements including:General Robert R. Neyland - Outstanding Athletic Director Award presented by National Athletic Director's Association (2005), awarded to the top athletic director in the country, Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp - Award Recipient (1995)PRISM Award - Managerial Excellence (2010) Excellence in Management Cup - Texas A&M University (2009, 2010, 2011) (en)
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