CLEVELAND - The National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) has announced the recipients of its 2021 Awards.

The 2021 NAADD Award recipients are: NAADD Lifetime Achievement Award, Dennis Young, former executive director of the East Carolina Education Foundation – Pirate Club, East Carolina University; College Fund Raiser of the Year, Brett Berg, assistant VP and associate AD, University of West Florida; University Fund Raiser of the Year, Tim Rice, senior associate AD for development, San Diego State University; and Rising Star Award, Josh Jordan, director of development at Washington State University.

"On behalf of the 1800+ members of NAADD and our Executive Committee, I want to congratulate Dennis, Brett, Tim and Josh," said Ben Broussard, NAADD President and Executive Director of the Wolfpack Club and Senior Associate Athletics Director at North Carolina State University.  "Being recognized by your peers for outstanding work is truly an honor and it is my privilege to be able to recognize these amazing and dedicated industry professionals for their efforts."

Lifetime Achievement Award
Young's time at East Carolina University began back in 1969 when he was a football student-athlete there. That experience as a student-athlete only helped enhance his role as a development officer by knowing firsthand the importance of the student-athlete experience. Throughout his 21 years at ECU, he was most known for the significant role he played in the growth of ECU athletics through his tireless work ethic and his ability to build and maintain relationships with alumni, fans, donors, and peers.

Among his achievements at ECU, Young oversaw a capital campaign that helped fund not only the expansion of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, but also led to the Murphy Center being built and the state-of-the-art Clark-LeClair Baseball Stadium. In addition, over the course of 21 years, the Pirate Club saw significant growth from $500,000 to $4 million in support for student-athlete scholarships. They were also able to raise $50 million in capital gifts for various project expansions for athletics facilities including the Smith-Williams Basketball Center.  Young had the opportunity to organize and work on the Smith-Williams Basketball Center as the last capital project he led before he retired in 2012.  

The ECU Pirate Club would not be at 10,000+ member without the leadership, loyalty, and dedication from Young. He left a lasting mark at ECU, specifically the Pirate Club, by cultivating significant growth in donations through his dedication in developing a strong fundraising team.

College Fund Raiser of the Year
Berg has a long and varied history with the University of West Florida, where he now serves on the leadership teams for both University Advancement and Intercollegiate Athletics. Berg wasn't always in athletics development though. His career ranges from athletics to health care to tourism and museums but he first got his start in athletics at UWF before working at Clemson while obtaining his master's degree.

Currently at UWF, Berg oversees all fundraising activities for the athletics program while managing all capital fundraising initiatives and football game day development operations. He and his team have set fundraising records each year, in addition to securing 21 of the top 25 largest gifts in the history of UWF Athletics, which includes the first ever six and seven-figure gifts for athletics. When Berg first started at UWF there were eight endowed funds and he has since added 22, making a total of 30 endowed funds and scholarships for athletics. Throughout his tenure at UWF, Berg has resurrected the Argonaut Athletic Club and set up a very comprehensive fundraising program.

Most notably, Berg has solicited some of the largest gifts for UWF Athletics, completed the UWF Football Founders initiative, created a new major gift society and has led the donor and fan initiatives around the UWF Football National Championship run. Under Berg's leadership, UWF created the Football Founders initiative to help start a football program. That initiative raised more than $5,500,000 and laid the foundation for a new program that advanced to the national championship game twice in its first four years of existence. The largest gift ever to UWF Athletics was naming the new building the 'Darrell Gooden Center' which Berg cultivated and solicited. This was one of the first buildings on campus to be named directly from a donor gift and the facility also included seven other donor named spaces and donor funding for all 115 lockers in the new football locker room. Berg continues to excel on campus and lead important initiatives for not just athletics but the university.

University Fund Raiser of the Year
Rice has made quite a name for himself as a prolific higher education administrator and fundraiser. Starting at Grand Valley State University for his undergrad, Rice gained an early appreciation for Intercollegiate Athletics and the impact that it has on the community and the lives of student-athletes. Since GVSU, Rice has made stops in development at Cal, Northern Illinois, and San Jose State before landing his role at San Diego State as the Senior Associate AD for Development.

During his time at SDSU, he has played a leadership role on the campaign for the only new stadium in the country. The new Aztec Stadium is the first piece of the historic SDSU Mission Valley campus expansion, an initiative that will make a profound impact on the future of higher education in San Diego. Under his leadership, the 2019-20 Aztec Club campaign set all-time school records in total pledges and commitments at $33.6 million. While also setting an all-time record for annual cash gifts at $6.1 million, the total number of donors continues to grow and is now 5700+ and reached over 90 Director Cabinet members, which is the leadership annual giving society. In addition, Rice ranked as the top fundraiser across all units at SDSU with $24.4M in pledges and commitments, highlighted by a collaboration with VP, Adrienne Vargas and AD John David Wicker on the $15M lead gift to the new stadium. 

Rice's unwavering work ethic and passion for revenue generation has set the tone for the athletics development team and their success. Together, Rice and the Aztec Club team have developed a staff culture of hard work, innovation, communication, and teamwork. Under Rice's leadership, the Aztec Club will continue to provide an outstanding experience to supporters while generating the funds necessary to provide a first-class experience for Aztec Student-Athletes. 

Rising Star Award 
Jordan, a former men's basketball student-athlete at Seattle Pacific University, knows firsthand the importance and impact that philanthropic support can have on student-athletes. While obtaining his master's degree at the University of Washington, Jordan worked as a graduate assistant in the Tyee Club before receiving a full-time role as a sales representative in the ticket office. From there, he served as the Assistant Director of Development within the Falcon Pride Club at the Air Force Academy with a focus on donor cultivation and prospecting for 8 athletic programs.

Jordan's role with the Cougar Athletic Fund began in April of 2019 as the Assistant Director of the regional office in Spokane before quickly receiving a promotion to Director of Development in the Spokane office. He has excelled with major gift productivity, building genuine relationships with donors, and leading with a team-focused approach while helping the CAF achieve their department goals.

Within the last 12 months, amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Jordan found numerous ways to excel and find valuable opportunities for donors. He was able to close a $4,000,000 planned gift and recorded 16 major gift solicitations of $10,000+ all within the first five months of the fiscal year, positioning the Cougar Athletic Fund for another great fundraising year. Outside of development, Jordan stepped up and volunteered in various departments as they were short-staffed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jordan's commitment to being a team player and his determination for serving student-athletes, donors, and the university will continue to propel him forward in his career.

The Association will plan to recognize Berg, Rice and Jordan prior to each of the three sessions at the NAADD Virtual Convention, July 27-28. While Young, will be honored in person, along with our 2020 Lifetime Achievement award winner Miles Marks, at the 2022 NACDA & Affiliates Convention in Las Vegas.

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 56^th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.