WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) inducted its 2018 Hall of Fame class during its annual Convention at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

The NATYCAA 2018 Hall of Fame inductees are: Ron Case, retired athletics director, Rowan College at Gloucester County; John Jackson, retired athletics director, Dean College; and Mary Ellen Leicht, retired executive director, National Junior College Athletic Association.

The honorees were recognized during NATYCAA’s annual awards luncheon.

Ron Case, Rowan College at Gloucester County
Case served as athletics director at Rowan College at Gloucester County (RCGC) for 25 years beginning in 1991, and his tenure was marked by an impressive array of awards and accomplishments.

Under Case’s direction, the Roadrunners achieved 28 NJCAA Division III National Championships and 68 top-three national finishes. RCGC was awarded the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) Cup Award on four occasions, recognizing the College as the top National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Non-Scholarship Athletics Program in the country, finished in the top three NATYCAA Cup Standings for eight consecutive years, and won the Learfield Directors’ Cup for best overall two-year college athletics program in the country. Case also led the Roadrunners to the CAANJ Cup, recognizing the College as the top two-year college athletics department in the state of New Jersey, a total of 14 times, including a stretch of 10 consecutive years.

Case was recognized as Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2016. He is a former member of the NACDA Executive Committee and a Past President of NATYCAA. He received Gloucester County College’s Medallion Award for Service to the College and Community in 2007 and was inducted into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

Case retired as AD at RCGC August 2016. Prior to RCGC, Case was the women’s soccer head coach and softball coach at Colgate University from 1987-91. From 1979-87 he served as the men’s soccer head coach and basketball coach and athletics director at Penn State University’s Delaware County Campus.

John Jackson, Dean College
Jackson retired in May 2017 after working at Dean College for 37 years. His illustrious career included positions such as Head Coach for Dean's baseball, basketball and softball programs; faculty member; academic department chair; athletics director; and his most recent position, director of compliance.

During his decade-long tenure as head basketball coach (1980-90), Jackson recorded 120 wins – the most wins of any men's basketball coach in Dean history. During Jackson’s 27 years as athletics director he led 4,741 athletics contests. Jackson boasted a career record of 2383-2278-80 ties and mentored 81 head coaches. He won 38 regional titles, four district titles, five Northeast Football Conference championships and one football bowl win.

Jackson’s resume also includes the following accomplishments: three-time award recipient of the Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Junior College Northeast Region; President of the National Association of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators; Commissioner of the Northeast Football Conference; three-time award recipient of the New England Junior College Softball Coach of the Year (2002, 2003, 2014), and Past President of the Wrentham youth baseball and softball association.

John was instrumental in numerous college initiatives that have included the construction of the baseball and softball dugouts, the naming of the Dale Lippert Football Field, the synthetic grass installation at Grant Field, and, most notably, overseeing the Dean athletic program’s transition from NJCAA to NCAA. He is a member of the Dean College Hall of Fame and the newly created John Jackson Sportsmanship Award will be presented annually to the student-athlete who best demonstrates the qualities of sportsmanship.

Following his retirement, the Dean College basketball court was re-named in his honor.

Mary Ellen Leicht, NJCAA
Leicht began her career with the NJCAA in 1989 as an eligibility administrator and was quickly promoted to associate executive director. She led many of the organization’s most challenging initiatives during that time, resulting in more efficient and effective regulations. She assisted with the development of the Association’s current divisional competition structure for 28 different sports and was also instrumental in the creation and implementation of the NJCAA online eligibility and letter of intent program – one of the most successful programs in the association’s history.

In 2009, Leicht was named NJCAA Executive Director – just the third person to occupy the position since the association’s founding in 1938. Her promotion made history as she became the first female chief executive of not only the NJCAA but of any national collegiate athletics organization in the United States.

During her tenure as executive director, Leicht guided the NJCAA through many challenges while ushering in an era of innovative success. Her leadership helped secure long-term contracts for the association’s two most high-profile events, keeping the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas, and the Division I Baseball World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado – both coming with multi-million-dollar facility renovations and improvements.

Under her direction the Association has met many unique challenges facing two-year college athletics, including improvements to student-athlete eligibility standards, expansion of compliance education and enforcement as well as securing sustainable outside revenue through national sponsors. More recently, Leicht helped lead the comprehensive NJCAA Excellence Initiative aimed at examining the association’s organizational and legislative structures.

Leicht’s steadfast commitment to raising the NJCAA’s profile and brand led to the 2009 launch of the association’s live video broadcasting network– NJCAA TV, providing a prominent and visible platform to greater showcase the organization’s highly competitive national events.

Leicht’s accomplishments and leadership have not gone unnoticed. In 2014 she was honored with the NJCAA Reed K. Swenson Leadership Award, becoming just the 10thindividual to ever receive the honor since its creation in 1980. She was also inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2004.

Leicht retired from the NJCAA in 2017.