COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (May 25, 2004) -- Tennessee Tech University’s first full-time athletics director in almost 20 years, Mark Wilson, was introduced to area media and community members yesterday at a reception.

Wilson, formerly the senior associate athletics director for external affairs at Ohio University, was chosen from a national field of more than 50 original applicants. He will begin his new position July 1.

In his role at Ohio, Wilson oversaw all external operations for the 20-sport program including fundraising and development efforts, corporate sponsorships sales, marketing and promotions, ticket sales operations, television and radio broadcast properties, licensing, publications, alumni affairs and media relations. Over the course of the past six years, athletic fundraising there has increased more than 400 percent.

The 35-year-old Wilson and his family met about 100 members of the community, and he took questions from fans and media members.

Listen to comments from Wilson on the following topics:

Wilson greets audience mk_community.mp3

Wilson responds to question about the need for new TTU athletic facilities mw_facilitiesfunding.mp3

Wilson talks about his emphasis on education mw_education.mp3

Wilson says creativity needed to market TTU sports mw_creative.mp3

Audio Clips provided by the Office of Public Affairs. Any Questions or comments please contact:TTUNEWS@tntech.edu

--Karen Lykins
This information posted 26 May 2004