EDIT: Per a report by Chad Bishop, the Western Kentucky University beat writer for the Bowling Green Daily News, it's all but official.
No, not the eccentric, if not downright insane Icelandic musician responsible for a lot of horrible things you might have accidentally listened to in the 1990's, but Ross Bjork, the AD at Western Kentucky.
This is a name that came out of nowhere fast and overcame the "fan favorites" or, at the very least, the WAOM-ish odds-on favorites of Walker Jones, Brad Teague, Archie Manning (c'mon y'all) and others. I know very little about Bjork, other than his lampoonable last name, but my friend Google helped me out.
From WKUSports.com:
WKU Athletics continues to achieve under Bjork’s leadership, and Bjork spends 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...Operating at full speed immediately after being hired, 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 leads 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 has also seen immediate success in new customers for WKU Athletics.
Bjork has also placed a high priority on academic success and led the creation of a comprehensive academic retention plan for WKU Athletics, which is geared to proactively impact all incoming student-athletes. Each of WKU’s men’s and women’s athletic teams currently exceeds 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 is over 3.0 for all 391 student-athletes and 228 are maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Ten of the university’s 15 athletic programs have a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better.
The youngest athletics director of the 120 NCAA FBS programs, Bjork has an extensive career in intercollegiate athletics with 19 years 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 6 ½ 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, 39, is a native of Dodge City, Kansas, 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 (5) and Paxton (1).
More on this to come, I'm sure.
Thoughts?