Here is how the SMU Mustangs describe Timothy Leonard, one of the three finalists for the Nevada Wolf pack athletic director's job . . .
"Tim Leonard serves as SMU's Senior Associate A.D. for External Affairs and oversees all fundraising, sales and revenue-generation efforts on the Hilltop.
Leonard has led resurgence on the SMU campus since his arrival in July 2008, helping secure over $100 million in private support of the athletic department. Mustang Club donations have grown for four straight years while all athletics annual giving has also reached milestone marks. The 2011 fiscal year reached an all-time high, but will soon be broken by 2012 numbers which are still being finalized. In the last two fiscal years, annual giving to SMU Athletics has increased over 40 percent under his watch.
Leonard also served as SMU's interim Director of Athletics for two months in 2012.
Leonard came to the Hilltop after nine years in a similar position at Central Florida, where he held the position of Assistant Vice President and Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Development. He had management and oversight of the Golden Knights Club, premium seating and the University's Annual Fund, and was responsible for selling the naming rights of UCF's new football stadium to Bright House Networks for $15 million in 2006.
Leonard graduated from Boise State University with a B.A. in communication in 1992 before spending five years as Director of Annual Giving for the athletics department at Illinois State. There, he directed, implemented and supervised the annual giving programs. From 1997-99, he worked as an assistant director of the Bronco Athletic Association at Boise State, where he oversaw the organization and implementation of soliciting annual gifts through the Bronco Athletic Association.
A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, Leonard and his wife, Monica, have two children, Hayley and Nathan.
Also . . .
"The National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) honored Leonard as its Fundraiser of the Year on June 26 at the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Luncheon.
Leonard has led resurgence on the SMU campus since his arrival in July 2008, helping secure over $100 million in private support of the athletic department. Mustang Club donations have grown for four straight years while all athletics annual giving has also reached milestone marks.
The 2011 fiscal year reached an all-time high, but will soon be broken by 2012 numbers which are still being finalized. In the last two fiscal years, annual giving to SMU Athletics has increased over 40 percent under Leonard's watch.
"This award is a deserving recognition of Tim's professionalism, his success in reaching out to larger and larger numbers of Mustang supporters and to the growing interest in SMU Athletics nationwide," said Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs at SMU. "This is a great time to be a Mustang."
