T I M L E O N A R D, D I R E C T O R O F AT H L E T I C S Tim Leonard is in his eighth year as Towson University’s Director of Athletics. Leonard is a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee as the Southeast Region representative and served as its chair for the 2019-20 season. During Leonard’s tenure, Towson has seen strong success in all aspects as an athletic department, including on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Towson was the Fall 2018 NCAA Teamworks National Champion in community service with 5,583 hours in the Greater Baltimore area from September to November. During his tenure, several Towson teams have won conference tournament titles in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) or Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC): women’s basketball, women’s indoor track, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming & diving and volleyball. By Spring 2020, 18 of 19 Towson teams held a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade point average. Towson facilities have seen major improvement during Leonard’s time at Towson, including the construction of the Lower Fields Complex, which has Tiger Stadium, the Tiger Softball Complex and the TU Field Hockey Complex. In addition, Johnny Unitas® Stadium, SECU Arena and John B. Schuerholz Park saw major upgrades to make Towson one of the premier mid-major athletic complexes in the country. In 2019-20, the COVID-19 pandemic affected all NCAA sports, yet Towson still saw strong success as a department. The volleyball team saw one of its best seasons in program history, winning an NCAA Tournament victory over Patriot League champion American after a perfect 16-0 CAA regular season and CAA Tournament championship, going 29-3 and never getting swept. Marrisa Wonders earned CAA Player of the Year and All-America honors from VolleyMag. In addition, the indoor track team won its first-ever ECAC Tournament, defeating 40 other teams up and down the East Coast with 63 points. Lauren Coleman earned All-America honors in the shot put, the first All-American under coach Mike Jackson. Yeedee Thaenrat of the football team was
a recipient of the John Randolph Inspiration Award after coming from war-torn Liberia when he was five years old, the second year in a row a Towson student-athlete has received the CAA’s Randolph Award. Men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football all finished in the top-four of the CAA, including football being nationally ranked all season and winning its first-ever regular season matchup between two top-10 teams with a 45-23 victory at No. 5 Maine. Leonard was instrumental in the opening of SECU Arena in November, 2013. The state-of-the-art arena seats 5,200 fans and features an LED ad ribbon board, a center-hung display and scoreboard, club seats, private suites and over 100 courtside seats. Prior to Towson, Leonard served as senior associate athletic director at SMU. He was also the Mustangs’ interim director of athletics from May to August, 2012. Leonard joined the staff at SMU after serving in a series of increasingly responsible positions at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He began as an assistant AD for development before moving up to assistant AD for external operations. Leonard’s final promotion at UCF saw him become the assistant vice president for athletics development and associate athletics director. Leonard’s athletics administration career also includes stops as Boise State’s assistant director of the Bronco Athletic Association and the director of annual giving at Illinois State. He is a member of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) and was the 2012 recipient of the NAADD Athletic Fundraiser of the Year award. In addition to his affiliation with NAADD, he is also a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). He is also currently a member of the NCAA men’s lacrosse committee. Leonard earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Boise State. The Twin Falls, Idaho native and his wife, Monica, have two children, Hayley and Nathan. W W W.T O W S O N T I G E R S . C O M 29
