Jeff Compher Hometown: Baltimore, Md. Position: Associate V.P./Director of Athletics

Northern Illinois University President John Peters introduced Jeff Compher as the Huskies' new associate vice-president and director of athletics on April 15, 2008 and he began his tenure leading NIU's 17-sport program on June 1.

A veteran collegiate athletics administrator, Compher came to DeKalb after nearly four years at the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. where he served as executive associate athletic director and was responsible for the general management and daily operations of the athletic department at the Pac 10 school. The Baltimore, Md. native also brought previous experience as an athletic director to Northern Illinois as he led the athletics program at Western Carolina University from 2000 to 2004.

Peters said Compher's well-rounded background and depth of experience made him the perfect choice to lead the Huskies' athletic program.

"Jeff has it all," Peters said. "His experience in fundraising, athletics administration and overall management of sports programs stood out to me and to the search committee. I am confident that Jeff will take Huskie athletics to the next level in terms of our academic and athletic performance, and his commitment to the welfare of student-athletes is unquestioned."

At Washington, Compher had day-to-day responsibility for a 23-sport, 650 student-athlete department, including direct oversight of the football, men's basketball, baseball and crew teams, as well as facilities and game operations. He also managed the student-athlete welfare areas, including strength and conditioning, athletic training, video services and equipment. Washington won a pair of national championships - in women's volleyball and men's crew - during his time there, and consistently ranked in the top 30 in the Director's Cup standings while surpassing NCAA Academic Progress Rate and Graduation Success Rate standards.

At both UW and Western Carolina, Compher was directly involved with capital projects and facility renovations, including construction of a new track/soccer and tennis complex and a significant expansion of the football stadium at Western Carolina, and the completion of the Football Legends Center at the University of Washington.

While at WCU, he also hired successful head coaches who have since been hired at BCS programs, and saw the operating budget increase by 42 percent and the total budget for athletic scholarships improve by 113 percent. New initiatives at Western Carolina benefited current and former student-athletes as he developed the CHAMPS/Life Skills program and started an organization for former letterwinners. During his tenure in Cullowhee, the Catamount teams improved their individual and conference records and the baseball, women's golf and indoor track and field teams won Southern Conference titles.

As associate and then senior associate athletic director at Vanderbilt University for four years, Compher directed nearly every area of the department, including leading the external areas from 1998-2000 with oversight of fundraising, marketing and promotions, corporate sponsorship and ticket sales and multimedia rights. Prior to that, he oversaw the NCAA compliance, academic support, strength and conditioning, equipment and CHAMPS/Life Skills areas at Vanderbilt.

At each of his previous three stops, Compher has been involved in developing and implementing long-range planning and working closely with constituencies within and outside the university.

He has emphasized the student-athlete experience at every stop of his career. His philosophy on the essential qualities and responsibilities of a Division I director of athletics include: directing a program that honors, serves and enhances the mission of the university; building an effective team; developing effective communication and organizational structure; leading, inspiring and motivating others; creating a success-oriented learning environment and developing the resources to compete on a national level.

Compher spent 13 years in several different positions at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., both within and outside the athletic department. As assistant athletic director at N.C. State from 1986-92, he managed the student-athlete support services units, established the first life skills program and handled scheduling and travel for the football and men's basketball teams. He also served as director of the Chancellor's Circle in the Office of University Development at NCSU, where he restructured the fundraising and gift club recognition program while doubling membership in the fund. He was the assistant to the chancellor at N.C. State before moving on to Vanderbilt and back into athletics administration.

Throughout his career, the 49-year-old Compher has continued his education, participating in the NACDA Management Institute (1998), the Sports Management Institute Executive Program (1998-99) and the Division I-A Athletic Directors' Institute (2005 and 2006). He served on numerous university committees at each of his previous stops and spent time in the classroom as an instructor at Washington, Western Carolina and N.C. State.

Compher said the fact that Huskie athletics is already positioned for success, along with the leadership of Peters, made the decision to come to Northern Illinois easy.

"This athletic department is in great shape, and that makes it an extremely attractive position," he said. "I believe this university has a chance to really do well in the Mid-American Conference. We can be competitive, and the opportunities are there for success at every level. We have a great academic institution next to one of the top cities in the country."

Compher earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from James Madison University, where he was a football student-athlete, in 1980, and graduated with a master's degree in counseling and student personnel services from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania in 1982. His first position in collegiate administration was at North Carolina State, where he was the assistant director of Housing and Residence Life from 1982 to 1986.

He and his wife, the former Cathy Fatica, have two sons, C.J. (16) and David (13).