03/21/2013 Ole Miss Announces Contract Extension For BjorkRebels Have Experienced Plenty Of Success In Year One 09/12/2012 Hartwell Named Athletics Director At TroySenior Executive Associate A.D. Served Nine Years At Ole Miss 09/05/2012 Bjork To Speak At Athletics ConvocationA.D. Visits With University's 3,400 Freshman Thursday 08/31/2012 C Spire To Partner Social Media Rewards ProgramFirst Of Its Kind In Nation 08/10/2012 Rebel Fans: Pledge Your Allegiance to Ole Miss On ESPN.com165 Schools Vying To Be Crowned Winners Of The College Colors Day Spirit Cup Announcement of Hire | Introductory Press Conference | What Others Are Saying Ross Bjork was announced on March 21, 2012 as the seventh full-time Director of Athletics at Ole Miss. Bjork, 40, arrived in Oxford as the youngest AD among BCS schools and comes off a successful stint in that post at Western Kentucky University. Bjork has set the tone early in his Ole Miss tenure, hiring one of the country's top rising coaches in his sport in Brian O'Neal (track and field) in just his second month on the job. He also appointed three executive level administrators for external relations, academic support and facilities/game operations. The external relations post was a new umbrella position at the center of Bjork's reorganization of that area of Ole Miss Athletics, including the UMAA Foundation, ticket operations, marketing and communications and the relationship with Ole Miss Sports Properties. He also created the unit for Health and Sports Performance, which combined sports medicine, strength and conditioning, nutrition and counseling services and added a local orthopedic sports medicine component that will provide primary sports medicine care for all student-athletes. Bjork's vision in facilities has resulted in a development plan for the Indoor Practice Facility. New projects have begun and include a full service dining facility, football team meeting room, player lounge and visuals throughout the complex. Bjork's first full week at the post was spent on the Rebel Road Trip, a six-day, 16-stop tour of the region that served to unite the Rebel fanbase. He carried that momentum into the launch of a major sales campaign for football season tickets, which included television and radio advertising, billboards, internet marketing and a new outbound telemarketing call center. Exciting things are happening around Ole Miss Athletics including first-year head football coach Hugh Freeze guiding the Rebels to a bowl game for the first time in three years and the Rebels reclaiming the Egg Bowl trophy. At WKU, Bjork spent significant time with all head coaches to evaluate and understand the necessary ingredients it takes for each sport to reach their maximum potential athletically and academically. He oversaw an extensive search process that resulted in Matt Myers being named WKU's new head baseball coach in July of 2011, and groundbreaking is anticipated in the summer of 2012 for major facility upgrades for WKU's tennis and track and field programs. After Bjork made a midseason coaching change, the Hilltopper men's basketball team went on to capture the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Women's Volleyball won the conference regular season and tournament in 2011 and reached the NCAA tournament each of the last two years, while men's and women's cross country each won conference team titles in 2011. Women's swimmer Claire Donahue finished second in the nation in the 100 yard butterfly, the highest finish in the program's history, and then won a pair of gold medals at the 2011 Pan American Games to become the only WKU athlete to ever claim Pan Am gold. WKU's football program posted the greatest one-season improvement in conference wins in the history of the Sun Belt in posting a 7-1 league mark and second-place conference finish. WKU football also signed the conference's top recruiting class each of the last two seasons. WKU's soccer program also reached the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game in 2011 before falling in overtime in their bid to achieve the program's first ever NCAA Tournament berth. Operating at full speed immediately after being hired at WKU, Bjork immediately created full time coaching positions for both men's and women's golf, implemented a strategic budgeting process, started a master facility plan, restructured several key administrative units and created a new mission statement and core values to guide the athletics program. He also led the "Toppers on Tour" caravan each summer, in which coaches and administrators from the WKU athletic department visit six cities outside of the Bowling Green area in a 19-day span covering over 1,000 total miles. His team also launched the Power of One membership campaign to accelerate growth for the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation and a new telemarketing program for ticket sales also saw immediate success in new customers for WKU Athletics. Bjork placed a high priority on academic success at WKU and led the creation of a comprehensive academic retention plan for the athletics department, which is geared to proactively impact all incoming student-athletes. Each of WKU's men's and women's athletic teams exceeded the NCAA required 925 Academic Progress Report Rate (APR), and WKU had more individuals honored for their academic achievements by the Sun Belt Conference than any other institution in 2011-12. For the first time in program history, the overall cumulative average GPA was over 3.0 for all 391 student-athletes and 228 maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Ten of the university's 15 athletic programs posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better. The youngest athletics director of the 120 NCAA FBS programs when hired at WKU, Bjork has an extensive career in intercollegiate athletics with two decades of experience as an administrator and student-athlete, having worked on the senior staffs at UCLA, the University of Miami and the University of Missouri. He began his administrative career at WKU as an Assistant Development Coordinator in 1996-97. At UCLA, he directed all fund raising activities, including the John Wooden Athletic Fund, marketing, promotions, ticket sales, branding, licensing, merchandising, corporate sponsorships, ISP Sports, radio rights, television rights, web site, and other sources of revenue generation. Total giving to Athletics doubled in his first year and season ticket sales for football and men's basketball increased to record totals. In 2009-10, his team raised a record $26 million in total gifts for athletics. While at UCLA, he established the Campaign of Champions Capital Campaign to raise the funds to renovate legendary Pauley Pavilion. He was involved in all strategic initiatives and major decisions for Bruin Athletics and was the day to day liaison to University Development, the UCLA Alumni Association, and other units on the UCLA campus. Bjork led the ISP Sports transition into the UCLA community and the Los Angeles market where they tripled sponsorships sales and revenue in the first four years. Bjork arrived at UCLA in September 2005, from the University of Miami, where he spent two years on the executive staff and oversaw all revenue production for the Hurricanes. During his time at Miami, he directed the search process for hiring Frank Haith as the men's basketball coach, served as the day to day liaison with men's basketball, was the department contact for the University President's office, secured the naming rights for a $52 million on-campus arena, renegotiated Miami's Nike and Gatorade contracts, and increased total giving to Miami Athletics. Prior to his tenure at Miami, Bjork spent six and a half years at the University of Missouri, where he oversaw all development operations that raised record funds each year. Total giving increased from $2.1 million in 1996 to $16 million in 2003. Bjork also directed the sales campaign of the football suites' project and implemented the seating program for Missouri's new basketball arena. He oversaw the generation of $88 million in donations for the Champions for Life Capital Campaign which laid the groundwork for Mizzou's recent success across the board. Bjork has also served as Campus Recreation Graduate Assistant and Athletic Department Volunteer at Western Illinois University, Marketing Intern for the University of Tulsa, Front Office Intern for the Albuquerque Dukes, and Student Volunteer for Athletics at Emporia State University. Bjork is a native of Dodge City, Kan., and received his bachelor's degree in recreation administration from Emporia State University in 1995 where he was a two-year starter at fullback. He earned a master's degree in athletic administration from Western Illinois University in December 1996. Bjork is respected nationally by his peers and is Past-President of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD). He and his wife, Sonya, have two boys: Payton (6) and Paxton (2). |
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