DALLAS, TX- Wheaton College Executive Director of Athletics Chad Yowell has been selected as the 2003-04 Division III Northeast National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) AD of the Year.

June 7, 2004

DALLAS, TX - Wheaton College Executive Director of Athletics Chad Yowell has been selected as the 2003-04 Division III Northeast National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) AD of the Year. Yowell, who is one of 25 winners across the nation, will be honored during NACDA's 39th Annual Convention at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas at the James J. Corbett Awards Luncheon on Saturday, June 12 at 11:30 a.m.

The NACDA AD of the Year program, now in its sixth year, recognizes athletic directors who have shown administrative excellence within the campus and/or college community for the current academic year. Winners are spread out over four geographical regions and the membership is separated into six categories, including Division I-A, Division I-AA/I-AAA, Division II, Division III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior/Community Colleges. One winner is chosen from each of the four regions in the six designated categories along with one international winner for a total of 25 recipients.

Yowell is currently finishing his 16th year at Wheaton, where he oversees all facets of a highly competitive athletics department that includes programs in 21 men's and women's varsity sports, intramural and club sports and general student, staff and faculty recreation. Under Yowell's guidance, Wheaton athletics have expanded dramatically. In addition to upgrading the existing eight women's programs upon his arrival in 1988, Yowell not only added an additional four sports teams to the women's program but also launched a men's program of nine sports following Wheaton's transition to coeducation. Over the last 16 years, he has tripled the size of the full-time coaching staff, quadrupled the departmental budget and implemented a multi-faceted recruitment plan.

Yowell has directed a department that has placed among the upper echelon in the annual Directors' Cup standings, which recognizes the most successful collegiate athletics programs in the country. Wheaton has finished among the top 25 programs in each of the last four years, including a current 16th-place standing in 2004 in a pool of over 400 NCAA Division III colleges and universities. In the 2003-04 academic year, the athletics program flourished as its varsity teams compiled an impressive record of 210-123-4 (.629).

The school has indeed enjoyed tremendous success under Yowell, capturing eight NCAA national championships, 11 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) titles and 49 New England Women's and Men's Athletic (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament crowns. Wheaton has also hosted the 1991 and 2002 United States Collegiate Synchronized Swimming Championships as well as several NCAA, ECAC and NEWMAC Tournament sponsored events.

During Yowell's tenure, Wheaton has enjoyed the benefits of boasting some of the nicest facilities in New England, including the 12-million Evelyn Danzig Haas Athletic Center that was presented at the 1991 NACDA Midwest Facilities Conference. In addition to an athletic treatment center, locker rooms, classrooms and department offices, the 102,000 square foot facility contains an eight-lane pool, a hardwood floor gymnasium that seats 1,000 people and a multi-purpose field house with a 200-meter, six-lane track.

Wheaton offers six lighted outdoor tennis courts, a fitness center, the renovated Clark Center complex, which served as Wheaton's main facility before Haas, and numerous playing fields, including baseball's James. V. Sidell Stadium. The Lyons' facilities also include the newly renovated Christina Mirrione Stadium for women's soccer and men's lacrosse, Clark Field for softball and field hockey and Keefe Field, training site for the 1994 Nigerian World Cup soccer team and home to Wheaton's men's soccer and women's lacrosse teams.

In addition to playing a major role in Wheaton's athletic successes and fine facilities, Yowell has developed and implemented the Wheaton Athletic Mentor (WAM) program, instituted the first Student Athletic Advisor Group and negotiated rental agreements with the college for Wheaton coaches in order to have camps run during the summer months.

Yowell has been extremely active on various committees throughout the region and nation. Currently serving on the NCAA Division III Management Council, Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and the NCAA joint subcommittee on the future of Division III athletics, Yowell was also the NCAA New England chair for softball from 2000-2003. He has been a member of the ECAC Executive Council in addition to serving on the ECAC Award of Valor Committee and men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball tournament selection committees. From 1993-1995, Yowell was the first male to be selected president of the New England Women's Eight (NEW-8) Conference. At Wheaton, he is involved in several committee groups, including the College Benefits Review, President Budget Advisory and Alcohol and Vandalism Task Force.

Prior to Wheaton, Yowell was employed at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon for 12 years, where he served in several different capacities. As Dean of Students from 1984-1988, Yowell was a member of the president's council that was responsible for providing leadership and program development to all aspects of student life. He also managed a budget in excess of two million dollars in addition to overseeing a new academic support and services program. At Pacific, Yowell held the Director of Athletics post from 1981-1984 and was an Assistant Professor from 1976-1984. From 1976-1986, he had his hand in coaching golf, women's basketball and baseball in addition to serving a stint as an athletic trainer.

A 1972 graduate of Utah State University, Yowell holds a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in geography. He later attended Portland State University and earned a master's degree in teaching in 1975. He and his wife Charlene have been married for 32 years and currently reside in Norton. They have four grown children and four grandchildren.