Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair Troy Dannen

TROY DANNEN

SIXTH YEAR | BEN WEINER DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS NORTHERN IOWA, 1989

Troy Dannen will embark on his sixth full academic year as Tulane University’s Ben Weiner Director of Athletics. Dannen was formally introduced as Tulane’s 33rd Director of Athletics in December 2015, bringing with him a track record of proven success.

Since being named Director of Athletics, Dannen has reinvigorated the Green Wave athletics program with the hiring of 10 head coaches (football, men’s basketball, baseball, beach volleyball, golf, sailing, swimming and diving, cross country/track and field, women’s tennis and volleyball), while also revamping the department’s senior management team, increasing fundraising and enhancing the student-athlete experience.

Through his leadership, Dannen has elevated the profile of Tulane Athletics from local, regional and national standpoints. Since arriving on campus, Tulane Athletics has seen 39 All-Americans, 108 All-American Athletic Conference recipients, 14 conference champions and Green Wave teams have earned 26 trips to the postseason.

Despite a global pandemic, Dannen led the department to continued success, while providing the department’s student-athletes, coaches and staff members with one of the nation’s most aggressive testing protocols. During the 2020-21 season, Tulane conducted 36,000 PCR COVID-19 tests on 756 different individuals with an overall positivity rate of just 0.67 percent.

In the fall of 2020, Tulane football continued its winning ways, earning a spot in a bowl game for a program-record third straight year, as it competed in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Tulane continued its success into the spring of 2021, as 26 student-athletes earned all-conference honors and eight individuals received All-America recognition. The department also saw two individuals earn conference championship titles.

Tulane’s sailing program highlighted the spring as it finished as the National Runner-Up at the ICSA Women’s Championship just three years after the program was elevated to varsity status.

PREVIOUS TULANE SUCCESS

During the 2019-20 athletics campaign, Green Wave football captured the 2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl title, marking the first time in program history in which the Green Wave won bowl games in back-toback seasons. The year also included postseason appearances for four other Green Wave teams with six student-athletes earning All-America honors, while 20 were named to all-conference teams.

In 2018-19, Tulane was equally impressive as the Green Wave achieved significant success with the football team winning the 2018 AutoNation Cure Bowl and a share of the American Athletic Conference West Division title.

The Green Wave sailing team also made their mark, winning the 2019 SEISA Women’s Conference Championship and competing in the national championship. The Green Wave volleyball team also had a successful run in the postseason with a runner-up finish in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Tulane volleyball closed the year with 29 overall wins, tying the AAC’s single-season record. Overall, nine Green Wave teams earned trips to the postseason, with six student-athletes receiving All-American honors and 26 named All-AAC.

In the spring of 2018, Tulane celebrated its first-ever American Athletic Conference tournament championship as men’s tennis claimed the league crown. In addition, the Green Wave also captured The American’s 2016 regular-season baseball championship.

In the summer of 2017, Tulane sailing was elevated to varsity status during Dannen’s tenure thanks to the generous support of Elizabeth “Libby” Connolly Alexander ‘84 and Robert Alexander whose gift endowed the startup, and perpetual operational costs of the sport.

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM

In the midst of a global pandemic, Green Wave student-athletes registered a departmental grade point average of 3.238 in the spring of 2021. In the fall, the Green Wave posted a 3.283 grade point average - the mark was the highest ever recorded for a fall semester. In the spring of 2020, Tulane student-athletes recorded a departmental grade point average of 3.675 and every Green Wave athletic program posted a grade point average over a 3.0.

Since Dannen’s arrival, Green Wave student-athletes have posted an overall department GPA of over 3.0 in each semester with the department grade point average increasing from 2.94 to 3.238. During his tenure, Tulane has seen a 10 percent growth in its Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and an 11-point improvement to its Academic Progress Rate (APR).

In the most recent Graduation Success Rate, announced in November of 2020, Tulane University student-athletes posted an overall GSR of 93 percent. The Green Wave’s 93 percent GSR was five percentage points above the national average and ranked in the Top 20 among Football Bowl Subdivision institutions.

EXTERNAL SUCCESS

Tulane Athletics has raised over $108 million as part of the institution’s Only the Audacious Campaign which publicly launched in December of 2017. Further, it has seen its licensing revenue triple through the re-introduction of the Angry Wave logo. Tulane’s fundraising initiatives have experienced continued growth under Dannen’s leadership, with a complete restructuring of the Green Wave Club and the introduction of the Olive & Blue Society. Since introducing the Olive & Blue Society, Tulane has already secured 120 members with gifts of $25,000 or more in the first two years of its launch.

In the fall of 2020, Tulane Athletics secured two gifts totaling $2.5 million. The first gift of $1 million came from Don and Lora Peters to support the expansion and renovation of the department’s academic center. The second gift of $1.5 million came from the Estate of Alan H. Rosenbloum - one million dollars of that gift will be used to establish the Alan H. Rosenbloum Mental Health Endowed Fund. The fund will expand Tulane Athletics’ mental health support of its 350 student-athletes.

In the fall of 2021, Tulane will unveil its $5 million broadcasting studio which will allow the department to air over 75 events on ESPN+ during the 2021-22 athletics season.

A COMMITMENT TO GIVING BACK

Dannen has also spearheaded initiatives to give back to the local community with Green Wave student-athletes donating their time. During the 2020-21 athletics season, Tulane student-athletes totaled 6,100 hours of community service – the most among any NCAA institution.

Over the past five years, Tulane student-athletes have contributed more than 20,000 hours of community service. In addition, Tulane ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Helper Helper competition in 2021, which continued the institution’s streak of five consecutive years ranked in the Top 25 of the national event.

SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR ALL

In the spring of 2020, Green Wave athletics, in conjunction with the Tulane Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), took a major step in the social justice movement under Dannen’s leadership, with the department announcing the creation of Green Wave Justice for All. The program was created by Tulane student-athletes and administrators following difficult and candid discussions within the department, including a Black student-athlete forum, an open forum for all student-athletes and an open forum with the entire athletic department. The creation of Green Wave Justice for All provides student-athletes with a blueprint to discuss, promote, and exemplify diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice within Tulane Athletics, Tulane University, the greater New Orleans community, the United States and throughout the world. The program centers around three main pillars: dialogue, education and change.

During the first year of the department’s initiative in 2020-21, Tulane provided its 450-plus staff members and student-athletes training in diversity, equity and inclusion with nationally recognized race and social justice with speaker Jen Fry. The program also provided voter education and registration opportunities for student-athletes and staff members.

PREPARING TULANE STUDENT-ATHLETES FOR NAME IMAGE AND LIKENESS

In the spring of 2020, Dannen initiated a partnership with the Tulane Center for Sport with the creation of Wave Brand Works, a cross-departmental program that will create and oversee Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) programming for Green Wave student-athletes. The partnership between the Center for Sport and Tulane Athletics will provide Green Wave student-athletes with a comprehensive educational program to help equip each individual with the knowledge and expertise to maximize their NIL opportunities in a way that is compliant with NCAA legislation, as well as with federal and state laws.

In year one of the program, Tulane Athletics formed a name, image and likeness working group to prepare Green Wave student-athletes for NIL. In addition, Green Wave athletics worked in conjunction with its partners at the Tulane Center for Sport to present five NIL programs that focused on brand management, social media awareness, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and healthy transitions.

ENHANCING THE STUDENT-ATHLETE EXPERIENCE

Dannen and his staff have worked tirelessly to enhance the overall studentathlete experience with the introduction of the Green Wave Grille, the department’s first on-site training table and with a $1.2 million renovation to the Slatten Family Strength Center. In the fall of 2021, the department will open its doors to a $2 million enhancement to the academic center. The department also will break ground on a $3.5 million state-of-the-art tennis facility. The department has also implemented a mental health program, which included the hiring of the department’s first full-time mental health professional.

In July of 2021, the department received a $1.4 million gift from the Valerie and Michael McKeever Family to create the McKeever Family Athletic Career Development Endowed Fund to expand Tulane Athletics’ career development initiative. Dannen also introduced the department’s first Associate Athletics Director for Sport Performance in July of 2021. The newly-created position fully integrates Tulane Athletics’ strength and conditioning, athletic training, nutrition and behavioral health units to ensure student-athlete health and peak performance in competition.

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Dannen’s leadership has also been felt across the university community and throughout the Division I collegiate landscape. Throughout his administrative career, Dannen has been named to several influential groups including four NCAA national committees: • Division I Football Championship Committee • Division I Wrestling Championship Committee • Division I Football Issues Committee • The Football Regional Advisory Committee In addition, Dannen served on the Drake Relays Executive Committee and spent 11 years as a collegiate football and basketball official.

In 2019, Dannen began a four-year term on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. He also currently serves on the NCAA Championship Finance Review Committee and is the Chair of the Football Competition Committee. He has also served on the Competition Oversight Committee, where he served as the Chair of the Misconduct Committee.

Dannen also has established himself as one of the leading figures among his peers, serving on the LEAD1 Board of Directors as the Chair of the Communications and Advocacy Committee.

As a member of the University’s Presidential Cabinet, Dannen has served on multiple search committees for institutional leadership positions. In his role as The American Athletic Director’s Executive Committee Chair, Dannen played a role in assisting the league office secure a landmark television deal with ESPN.

PRIOR TO TULANE

Dannen came to Tulane after serving eight seasons in the same capacity at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) from 2008-15. During Dannen’s tenure, the Panthers enjoyed an incredible run of success at both the conference and national levels, as UNI was recognized with 39 All-Americans, 13 Coaches of the Year and nine Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Players of the Year. UNI football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball and softball combined to reach 14 NCAA tournaments during that stretch.

FAMILY

Dannen is married to Amy, and they have four children: Elle (8), Emily (26), Holly (22) and William (7).