The National Association of College Directors of Athletics has appointed Ross Bjork as its president for the 2024-25 academic year. A member of the NACDA since the mid-2010s, Bjork will replace Pat Chun (Washington) in the role, which oversees and leads over 23,000 college athletics administrators at more than 2,200 institutions across the United States.
“Simply put, I am a product of NACDA – that’s why I’m here,” Bjork said in a statement. “As we go into 2024-25, we’re going to remember that we are the leading educational platform in college athletics, and we’re going to continue to provide best practices and lessons learned. In all of this uncertainty and chaos that may be going on inside our walls, how do we capitalize on the momentum that we have outside of our walls? College athletics has never been more popular – that’s our job. We can always make sure that we remember why we are here, and that is for the student-athletes.”
In 2006-07, Bjork served as president of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors – a partner of the NACDA – while he was a senior associate athletic director at UCLA. In 2015, Bjork became a NACDA executive committee member while he was athletic director at Ole Miss, and he later became a NACDA officer in 2021 while he was athletic director at Texas A&M.
This year, Bjork will serve as NACDA president and welcome Heather Lyke (Pitt) and Sean T. Frazier (Nothern Illinois) as his vice presidents. Pennie Parker (Rollins College) and Christina Hundley (Paradise Valley Community College) will also serve as Bjork's officers.
“As NACDA has continued to grow and develop over the last several decades, so has Ross as a trusted voice and thought leader in our industry,” NACDA CEO Pat Manak said of Bjork. “Ross has grown in his career beginning with NAADD, to leading the Senior Administrators Mentoring Institute, to becoming a NACDA Officer and serving as a mentor to many along his journey. NACDA & Affiliates members will continue to learn from him this year as he embarks on his new roles both at Ohio State and within the Association.”
Bjork replaced Gene Smith as Ohio State's athletic director on July 1. Before he started his tenure, Bjork spent four months as a special advisor to Smith and Ohio State president Ted Carter. In that time, he hired four Buckeye coaches, including Jake Diebler (men's basketball), Justin Haire (baseball), Kirin Kumar (softball) and Emily Gackowski (rowing).
