From the UW website:
Todd Turner Named Washington Athletic Director
Highly-Respected Administrator Selected to Oversee Husky Program
June 19, 2004
Seattle - William Tarlton "Todd" Turner was named director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Washington today by new University president Mark Emmert. Turner, 53, will assume his duties effective August 1, 2004. He is the 15th athletic director in Washington's history. His appointment is subject to approval by the University's Board of Regents.
A veteran of 28 years as a college athletic administrator, Washington is the fourth university where Turner has served as athletic director. He joins the Husky staff after directing Vanderbilt's athletic program for the past seven years. His position was dissolved last September when the athletic department was restructured and placed under the direction of the newly-created Office of Student Athletics, Recreation and Wellness.
Turner previously held the position of athletic director at North Carolina State University and University of Connecticut. He worked in athletic administration at the University of Virginia in a number of different capacities.
Turner was chosen after a national search by a 15-person search committee chaired by Michael Eisenberg, dean of the University's Information School. The committee was assisted by the executive search firm of Barker, Parker and Associates, Inc. of Atlanta.
"Todd Turner is one of the nation's most experienced and respected athletic directors," said Emmert. "He emerged in the search process as the very best candidate, and we're pleased he likes us as much as we like him. His values for intercollegiate sports align exceptionally well with the University of Washington's, namely a program committed to high ethical standards and competitive success across all sports. We are very excited about his coming to Washington and bringing his considerable leadership skills to one of the nation's foremost intercollegiate athletic programs."
As the athletic director at Washington, Turner will oversee one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation. The Husky athletic program is currently eighth in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy's Directors' Cup rankings. It includes 23 sport programs with a $39.5 million annual budget. Last year approximately 650 student-athletes competed for Washington's athletic teams. The department includes a staff of 160. In the most recent NCAA graduation report, Washington student-athletes graduated at 70 percent, a figure above the national average for other Division I institutions and equal to the graduation rate for all UW students.
"I am very excited to be coming to the University of Washington," said Turner. "It is one of this nation's great public universities, with one of the strongest athletic departments in the country. I am eager to work with President Emmert in creating the best possible environment for our student-athletes to advance both their academic and athletic goals, and to work with a highly-respected group of coaches and a dedicated support staff."
Turner comes to Washington with the reputation of being highly respected by his peers and a leading advocate in the movement to bring academic reform to NCAA member institutions. Since leaving Vanderbilt he has continued to serve the NCAA as chair of the NCAA Management Council's Working Group on Incentives and Disincentives tied to academic performance.
This past year his efforts on academic reform were felt when the NCAA implemented changes in academic requirements and eligibility restrictions aimed at improving graduation rates among student-athletes. This spring the Incentives/Disincentives Working Group completed work on an academic reform proposal that includes raised initial and continuing academic eligibility requirements. That group developed an ambitious proposal to penalize schools based on poor academic performance.
The welfare of student-athletes is at the heart of Turner's philosophy. His goals emphasize academic achievement and athletic success.
"It is essential that we make use of all of our resources to provide enrichment opportunities for our student-athletes," Turner said. "To accomplish that, we must be structured and well managed. The world of collegiate athletics is constantly changing and evolving. It is important for our department to understand our mission and objectives and be accountable for them. Working as a team, with everyone taking ownership in our commitments, we can accomplish great things."
An accomplished fundraiser, at Vanderbilt Turner was responsible for the most ambitious facilities enhancement in the program's history. Under his direction, nearly every one of the Commodore athletic programs upgraded their practice facilities and the baseball, soccer, track and field and lacrosse teams moved into new competition sites.
Thanks to Turner's direction, in recent years Vanderbilt has enjoyed tremendous athletic success while remaining among the nation's upper echelon in graduation rates and academic achievement.
The Commodores are currently ranked 31st in the Directors' Cup standings. This year both the men's and women's basketball teams advanced to the Sweet 16. The Vandy women's lacrosse team competed in the Final Four, the baseball team reached the NCAA Super Regional for the first time, both the men's and women's tennis teams posted top-five finishes and the women's golf program placed fifth at the NCAA Championships.
Twice in the last eight years, the Vanderbilt football program earned national recognition by the American Football Coaches Association by achieving 100 percent graduation rates.
Turner has been involved in a number of NCAA, conference and community efforts. He is on the executive committee and a past president (1996-97) of the Division I-A Director of Athletics Association. He formerly served as Chair of the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Committee. Turner served a three-year term on the Southeastern Conference's Executive Committee. He was once on the board of directors for the College Football Association.
Turner assisted several Nashville area causes. He was a member of the Nashville Sports Council executive committee, and a board member of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
During his years at N.C. State (1990-1996), the football team went to five bowls, women's basketball made the Sweet 16 and the men's soccer team played in the Final Four. Eleven Wolfpack teams won ACC titles. He implemented a $45 million fundraising project, the Wolfpack PRIDE Campaign, to upgrade athletic facilities that had become outdated. He was involved in the planning and fundraising efforts for Raleigh's Entertainment and Sports Complex (RBC Center) that is now the home for Wolfpack men's basketball.
While at Connecticut (1987-1990), he supervised construction of the Gampel Pavilion, an on-campus home for Huskie men's and women's basketball. His fundraising efforts helped the Huskies surpass the $1 million mark in annual giving for the first time in 1990.
During his 11 years at Virginia, Turner worked as an associate athletic director for Dick Schultz, who went on to be the executive director of the NCAA and executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and was hired at Virginia by Gene Corrigan, who became the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and was the president of the NCAA. At Virginia he worked as the associate director of athletics, director of sports promotions, sports information director and athletic ticket manager.
A 1976 graduate of the Ohio University Sports Administration program, Turner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973. He earned the Ohio University Graduate School's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1993.
Turner, a native of Raleigh, N.C., is married to the former Sara Newbold, also of Raleigh. They have four children: Kate, 24; Allison, 20; Molly, 17; and Drew, 14.
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