STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph’s College Athletic Director Brian Curtin has been chosen as the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Executive of the Year.

Curtin, hired as the fifth athletic director in SJC Athletics history in May of 2006, has helped propel the athletic department to new heights during his six-year tenure, particularly since the institution joined the GNAC prior to the start of the 2007-08 academic year. In five years as a GNAC member, the Monks’ nine record-bearing programs have combined to post the most overall victories (715) and highest in-conference (.688, 383-174) and overall (.623, 715-433) winning percentages of any GNAC institution.

The individual sports have also flourished under Curtin’s guidance, as evidenced by the SJC women’s cross country team’s GNAC titles in 2007 and 2008 and the women’s swim team’s runner-up performance in the 2008 GNAC Championship. Athletes from the Monks’ individual sports programs have accumulated nine top yearly accolades over the last five years.

The SJC field hockey team – which competes in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) – has developed into one of the pillars of Saint Joseph’s athletics. Since the fall of 2007, the Monks have gone 69-29 (.704) overall and 27-2 (.931) in conference play en route to making three NAC Championship game appearances.

Since Curtin came on board, Saint Joseph’s teams have captured 13 conference championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on 11 occasions. In all, the Monks have made 40 conference tournament appearances in 46 opportunities since joining the GNAC in 2007. All 10 of the Monks’ record-bearing programs participated in their respective conference tournaments last year.

The wins, championships, and accolades are important – but the bulk of the on-field success is a result of the department’s ongoing philosophy of cultivating the growth of well-rounded student-athletes on and off the field. Under Curtin’s direction, Saint Joseph’s teams and athletes have garnered numerous academic and sportsmanship honors.

Every summer the GNAC honors student-athletes who sport a 3.25 GPA or higher during the previous academic year. Saint Joseph’s, one of the smallest colleges in the conference with an enrollment of 1,015 students, has had 295 such honorees since 2008, a tally that counts as the second-highest total by a GNAC institution over the last five years. St. Joe’s placed 75 student-athletes on the GNAC All-Academic Team for the 2011-12 academic year.

Since 2008, three Saint Joseph’s female athletes have claimed GNAC Woman of the Year accolades and a pair of male athletes have garnered GNAC Sportsman of the Year honors. Six SJC head coaches have combined to collect 10 conference Coach of the Year awards since 2007.

"Brian Curtin leads Saint Joseph's College Athletics with integrity, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness," adds GNAC Commissioner Joe Walsh. "He is an asset to the conference and all of our student-athletes and is a pleasure to work with."

Constantly seeking ways to enhance the department and the college’s athletic offerings, Curtin has spearheaded many improvement plans, including the addition of new scoreboards on the soccer, softball, and field hockey fields, pull-out bleachers on the pool deck, the construction of a press box on the soccer field, and upgrades made to the cross country trail.

Curtin was also instrumental in developing the partnership between the department and Presto Sports, the online provider for www.gomonks.com, and played a key role in the implementation of other technological advances, such as live stats and video for home contests.

Perhaps most impressive is the department’s unprecedented growth during Curtin’s tenure. When he arrived on campus in 2006, Saint Joseph’s sponsored 11 sports: men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, golf, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and softball. Four teams, men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s swimming, were added to the SJC offering in the fall of 2007 and, most recently, indoor and outdoor men’s and women’s track and field teams were added to the docket, increasing the total of varsity sports to 19.

Before he came to Saint Joseph’s, Curtin was the men's basketball coach and an athletic administrator at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. for nine years. During that time, Curtin's teams set numerous school records. He then became an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, where his duties included player development, scouting and recruiting. He then joined the basketball staff at American University where he worked as an assistant for two years.

Curtin earned his B.A. in Journalism from Saint Michael's College and his M.A. in Education and Human Development from George Washington University. While at Saint Michael's College, he set several records in cross country that still stand and was inducted into the Saint Michael's College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

Curtin, who grew up in Clifton Park, N.Y., is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and serves as the GNAC Men’s Basketball Chairman.

(L-R) GNAC Commissioner Joe Walsh, SJC Athletic Director Brian Curtin, Albertus Magnus Sports Information Director Kristen DeCarli, Lasell Athletic Trainer Chris Troyanos

Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.