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Dave Hart

Position: Executive Director of Athletics

Dave Hart has served as Executive Director of Athletics at the Capstone since August of 2008.Hart joined the UA Athletic Department after serving as an advisor to the Atlantic Coast Conference and ACC Commissioner John Swofford. Hart's role at Alabama centers on assisting Director of Athletics Mal Moore with the day-to-day operations of the athletic department, helping lead the management team in the daily operations of the department.

A 1971 Alabama graduate, Hart played basketball for the Crimson Tide under legendary head coach C.M. Newton and earned a master's degree from UA in 1972 while working as a graduate assistant basketball coach.

Hart's peers use terms and words such as class, integrity, respect, visionary and national leader to describe Dave Hart, Jr. Bolstered by his leadership and vision, still young athletics programs at Florida State University and East Carolina University remain vibrant today.Hart is widely viewed as one of the nation's top athletics administrators.It is a reputation he has earned.

Dave Hart spent 13 years as Florida State's Athletics Director. He led the FSU athletics program from 1995 to 2007 with comprehensive success in mind.The athletics department budget more than doubled, along with revenues, during Hart's tenure, with a significant percentage of that increase going towards the growth and development of women's athletics programs at FSU.Student-athletes reached new heights in academic performance within University, Conference and national circles.Community service participation by student-athletes reached an all-time high with every team giving back to the community throughout the year.Florida State student-athletes, coaches, administrators and teams were consistently recognized nationally for honors and awards.Excellence in competition was evidenced across the board with the Seminoles ranking in the Top 10-15 nationally in the Directors' Cup which fulfilled a stated priority.Facility enhancements were nothing short of remarkable and serve as a collective point of pride for current and former student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and fans.

In recognizing Hart's position within intercollegiate athletics, ACC Commissioner John Swofford said, "Dave Hart is one of the best and most respected athletics administrators in the business. He thoroughly understands the nuances of major college athletics, and he has superb values to go along with his vast experience in the field.He is a proven leader at the conference and national levels."

Hart has served on several prestigious committees at conference and national levels during his career in athletics administration. He has been a member of the NCAA Council, the NCAA Honors and Awards Committee and the NCAA Special Events and Postseason Bowls Committee as well as a consultant to the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

Hart has also held positions of considerable influence within conference and national circles and has been recognized with regional and national awards. He served as President of both the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the Division 1A Athletics Directors' Association. Hart has been recognized by his peers in intercollegiate administration with the honor of being named Athletics Director of the Year in the Southeast Region in 2000 and 2005.Since the inception of the award, he is one of only a few athletics directors' in Division I-A to receive the regional award multiple times. He has also received the Robert R. Neyland Award for lifetime achievement in his profession as well as the Athletics Directors' Award for advancing the quality and progress of student-athletes and the athletics program while at Florida State. Hart was named the 2008 recipient of the James J. Corbett Award.The Corbett Award is presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.It is the highest award one can achieve in collegiate athletics administration.

Hart served as Vice Chairman of the NCAA Football Board of Directors where he represented NACDA and served with commissioners of Division I-A conferences as well as past NCAA President, Myles Brand. He was one of eleven athletics directors nationally who served as an advisory group to presidents and conference commissioners in ongoing meetings and discussions regarding BCS format options and related issues regarding post-season football.In addition to serving in prominent leadership roles nationally, Hart was directly involved in the renegotiations of the ACC's football and basketball television contracts.He chaired the ACC Television Committee as well as the ACC Men's Basketball and Football committees.A long-time advocate of conference expansion, Hart played an instrumental role in the Atlantic Coast Conference expansion process which resulted in the addition of three new members in Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College while immediately elevating the national profile of the ACC.

A popular speaker at the national level, Hart has made numerous speaking presentations nationally and presented seminars on such topics as student-athlete welfare, marketing, gender equity, facility master planning, negotiation skills and personnel transition. He was an instructor at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Management Institute for ten years and currently is an annual presenter at the Division I-A Athletics Directors' Institute sharing with peers his knowledge and experiences relating to athletics administration.

During his tenure at Florida State, Hart negotiated unprecedented multi-million dollar contracts for the department totaling in excess of $175 million while planning and guiding the development and implementation of an extensive and comprehensive facilities master plan for athletics which totaled more than $150 million.He initiated a multi-faceted Student Development/Life Skills program for all student-athletes at FSU, which was recognized nationally as a "Program of Excellence" by the Division I-A Athletics Directors' Association.He spearheaded the rewriting of the department's mission statement to put the student-athlete at the core of everything the athletics department prioritized in its goal to build comprehensive excellence throughout the many components of the department.

Hart took a leadership role in FSU athletics department's first major Capital Campaign, in concert with Seminole Boosters, which raised over 75 million dollars for athletics facilities. A second capital campaign is ongoing to endow athletics scholarships for all sports at Florida State.Within the Facilities Master Plan, the Soccer/Softball facility was the first new facility to be built and remains one of the nation's finest.Major renovations to the Tennis and Volleyball facilities were also completed. The state-of-the-art Golf Facility and Teaching Center and the Basketball Training Center are among the nations very best.The Dick Howser Baseball Stadium and the new Moore Athletics Center, have few, if any, peers.A new aquatics facility and completion of the renovation to the Mike Long Track building were finalized in 2008. While at FSU, Hart made many key head coaching hires including the hiring of FSU's first African American basketball coach.Under Hart's direction, FSU formalized a varsity club to encourage the participation of former student-athletes in athletics department activities and a new focus was placed on the growth of women's athletics at FSU. That commitment was reflected in the increased allocation of funding, competitive success and facility improvements.Also during Hart's tenure, FSU became home to the inaugural National Student-Athlete of the Year, a State of Florida Woman of the Year recipient and a Rhodes Scholar.A record number of FSU student-athletes made the ACC Academic Honor Roll, were recipients of NCAA post-graduate scholarship awards and obtained degrees.Student-athlete community service involvement became a priority under Hart with student-athletes contributing over 5,000 hours in community outreach projects.

After graduation from Alabama, Hart coached and taught at the high school level before joining the East Carolina athletics program in 1983 where his vision and leadership enabled that program to reach goals thought to be unattainable prior to his eight-year tenure as Director of Athletics.

Hart met his wife, the former Pam Humble, while at Alabama. Pam is a 1970 graduate of The University of Alabama, and the couple has three children: Rick, Jamie and Kelly.The Harts are the grandparents of five grandchildren: Trevor, Caroline, McKinley, Olivia and Kingsley.