Mike Ward comes to Elon from the University of Tennessee, where he was a member of the executive staff of the Athletics Department for the past six years.
Elon University has named Mike Ward its new deputy director of athletics, Director of Athletics Dave Blank announced on Monday, Sept. 18.
Blank said that Ward “brings broad and successful experience across a wide array of areas to Elon Athletics and is a talented, results-oriented administrator. Mike shares Elon’s commitment of creating a well-rounded experience for our student-athletes and I am confident he will have a positive impact across our entire department.”
For the past six years, Ward served as a member of the Athletics Department Executive Staff at Tennessee where he developed and implemented strategic initiatives and operations across the entire department. Ward was involved in both internal and external operations, revenue generation, fundraising initiatives and enhancements to the student-athlete experience.
External initiatives included the launch of the “Campaign for Comprehensive Excellence,” which raised more than $160 million over three years to impact the student-athlete experience, facilities construction in every sport at Tennessee, a rebranding initiative and the creation of the “One Tennessee” campaign, and Tennessee’s department-wide transition to Nike. Tennessee saw budget and revenue growth of 33 percent during Ward’s tenure, as well.
“I’d like to thank Dave Blank for the opportunity to serve Elon University, our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” said Ward. “Our values are clearly aligned. The most rewarding part of anyone’s career is time spent working on a high performing team, and I’m excited to join this one as we drive innovation and success for the benefit of our student-athletes and University.”
Prior to his time at Tennessee, Ward was the associate athletics director for compliance and administration at the University of Alabama for nearly four years. Before his stint at Alabama, Ward was the director of compliance at the University of Oklahoma for a year and previously worked at the NCAA headquarters as the assistant director of enforcement.
Earlier in his career, Ward was a legal associate with Smith and Carson, an international legal services and corporate intelligence and litigation firm in Dallas, Texas.
Ward earned a law degree with a concentration in business administration from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2002. He graduated cum laude from Alabama in 1999, earning a bachelor’s deegree in biology and psychology. Ward and his wife, Beth, have two children, 14-year-old Xander and 13-year-old Avalyn.