May 7, 2008
For the release in PDF form, click here.
Cleveland, Ohio - The Officers and Executive Committee of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) have selected their award recipients for the 2007-08 year.
Award recipients include Brenda Lawson, University of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, as the University Division Donor of the Year; Neal T. Baker, California State University San Bernardino as the College Division Donor of the Year; Mark Jennings, University of Iowa, as the University Division Fund Raiser of the Year; John Moody, Virginia Tech as the Lifetime Achievement Award winner; Mitch McCuistion, Brigham Young University as the University Division Volunteer of the Year; and Marty Zlotnik, University of British Columbia, as the College Division Volunteer of the Year.
Award winners will be recognized at NAADD's 15th Annual Convention, June 9-12 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. On Wednesday, June 11, the winners will also be honored during the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup Luncheon sponsored by Collegiate Images.
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 NACDA. In its 43rd year, NACDA 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 11 professional associations for the separate business units that report directly to the athletics director.
Brief biographical sketches of each honoree to follow.
BRENDA LAWSON - University Division Donor of the Year
Brenda Lawson has committed over $10 million dollars in support of athletics and academic initiatives on the University of Tennessee's Knoxville and Chattanooga campuses. Lawson's most recent major commitment includes components for a women's success endowment, a student pedestrian mall, athletics training center and the school of business at UT Chattanooga, and the Pratt Pavilion basketball practice facility, Neyland stadium renovations and other priorities at UT Knoxville. A dedicated activist who is guided by her love for education and the University of Tennessee system, Brenda serves as a member of the UT Development Council, UT Alliance of Women's Philanthropists, co-chair of the "Campaign for Tennessee" (the University's billion dollar campaign), the UT-Chattanooga Advisory Board, UTC College of Business, UTC Board of Directors, the United Way of Bradley County Board of Directors, and many other organizations. Her Creating Christmas Memories Foundation has helped thousands of underprivileged children over the last several years. Her leadership has been critical in securing several seven figure gifts from other donors benefiting both UTK and UTC. A $1 million Brenda Lawson Youth Center was dedicated earlier this year in her honor and she is providing funds to build a new Student Athletic Success Center now under construction on the UTC campus in Chattanooga. Lawson is a self-made business woman and accomplished entrepreneur and is founder and CEO of Brenda Lawson & Associates, a managerial services company in Cleveland, Tennessee.
NEAL BAKER - College Division Donor of the Year
For over a decade, Neal Baker has supported California State University San Bernardino athletics. A lifetime resident of San Bernardino, Baker is the founder and chairman of Baker's Drive Thru, an American and Mexican full service restaurant. What began as a small drive thru in San Bernardino, Baker's Drive Thru has grown into a 38 store enterprise that holds the title of "Best Fast Food" in San Bernardino County as voted upon by readers of the San Bernardino Sun. Through the success of Baker's Drive Thru, Baker is able to donate at the $10,000 level annually to the Coyote athletics department. However, Baker gives more than $10,000 through various donations of goods and services. For the 2007-08 athletics season, Baker has provided the support needed to supply t-shirts for all participants in the Coyote basketball camp; radio advertising; Bakers' Drive Thru coupons and basketballs for the "Break the Record" night; as well as the design, print and distribution of 50,000 flyers for free admission to Coyote athletics events. In addition, Baker recently donated a week-long Hawaiian vacation for the Coyotes to use at their annual golf tournament. Aside from his generous gifts to the UC San Bernardino athletics department, Baker has also contributed over $100,000 in support of the College of Education scholarship program.
MARK JENNINGS - University Division Fund Raiser of the Year
Mark Jennings has served the University of Iowa Athletics Department for more than 20 years. He began his current role, associate athletics director for donor and patron services, in 2002, and oversees fund raising, ticket operations and the Varsity Club. Under Jennings, the Hawkeyes completed a $93 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium and are currently involved in a $45 million Carver-Hawkeye Arena Enhancement Campaign. Jennings was also responsible for the creation of Hawkeye Visions, the endowment fund for the University of Iowa Athletics Department. Since joining the development staff in 1987, he has helped raise over $200 million. He is a member of both NAADD and NACDA and has been a guest speaker at numerous national meetings. A 1973 graduate of the University of Iowa, Jennings was the first director of parks and recreation for the city of Vinton, Iowa, before being named the executive director of the Iowa Parks and Recreation Association in 1978. He began working in athletics as the state commissioner of the Amateur Softball Association before joining the University of Iowa Foundation in 1981 as director of development for the College of Law.
JOHN MOODY - Lifetime Achievement Award
John Moody, who currently serves as the senior assistant to the director of the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund, has served in Virginia Tech (VT) athletics fund raising for 35-plus years. He came to VT in 1972 as a field representative for the Student Aid Association. A former Hokie student-athlete, Moody began his fund raising career going door-to-door soliciting donations. This technique brought in over $350,000 for the Virginia Tech Student Aid Association and identified hundreds of prospective donors. He also initiated a relationship with car dealers in the area for automobiles for the Virginia Tech coaching staff. In 1987, Moody created the Hokie Representative program, which is a group of volunteers that assist the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund raising staff in cultivating donor prospects in their hometowns. In addition, Moody played an integral role in bringing Virginia Tech Athletic Fund raising into the state of Florida. Today, the University President hosts several events in the Sunshine State. With the completion of three successful comprehensive capital campaigns, Moody and the VT Athletic Fund have reported gifts totaling over $24 million in each of the last three years.
MITCH McCUISTION - University Division Volunteer of the Year
Eight years ago, Mitch McCuistion helped to conceive and implement a fund-raising campaign that has forever changed Brigham Young University Athletics and the BYU Cougar Club. An owner of Panda Homes, LLC and Diamond Peak Management and Construction, McCuistion played an integral role in committing the Utah Valley Home Builders Association (UVHBA) to establish a program of annually building a home and donating all sale proceeds to the university. Known as the Cougar House, the project has raised more than $1,000,000 for BYU Athletics. Among other projects, these earnings have endowed three full athletic grants-in-aid that will exist in perpetuity at BYU. Since Cougar House's inception in 2001, McCuistion has chaired or co-chaired the Cougar House Committee, a job that entails soliciting the donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars in land, materials, and labor, as well as scheduling the volunteer involvement of more than 50 contributing companies each year. Through from his efforts with the Cougar House, McCuistion has also brought dozens of new Legacy Donors (individuals who donate $10,000 or more) into the Cougar Club. McCuistion's on-going generosity and unparalleled commitment to BYU Athletics have made him one of the top volunteers in Cougar Club history.
MARTY ZLOTNIK - College Division Donor of the Year
Marty Zlotnik has been highly involved in the University of British Columbia (UBC) athletics department for more than 40 years. In the 1980s, Zlotnik founded the Thunderbird Golf Society, a volunteer group dedicated to the advancement of the golf program at UBC. The organization has raised more than $1 million that is endowed for men's and women's golf scholarships. At a UBC Alumni event in 1998, Zlotnik purchased a silent auction prize of "Breakfast with the UBC President". Instead of using the gift himself, he invited 20 Thunderbirds supporters who each donated $100 to attend the breakfast. At the conclusion of the event, Zlotnik asked the president if she would match their donations, to which she agreed. He then asked if she would have breakfast with 1000 of his friends next year, to which she also agreed. The Thunderbird Millennium Scholarship Breakfast has raised more than $5 million in endowed scholarships for UBC athletes in the past nine years. It is the largest annual fund raising event for athletics in all of Canada. Zlotnik is the former chair of the Air Canada Championship, a PGA Tour event held in Vancouver from 1995 to 2000 and is also former chair of the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. Zlotnik, along with his father and two brothers, operate one of western Canada's largest investment and insurance firms, ZLC Financial Group.
