PoA056 Bob Driscoll | Providence College

Entering his 13th season as Providence College’s Associate Vice President & Athletics Director, Bob Driscoll has transformed and reinvigorated Providence College’s athletics program. Having established a vision of student-athlete success in the classroom, in the community and in competing for championships, Driscoll maintains focus on fostering one of the nation’s most respected programs.

Driscoll established the athletic fundraising philosophy and department that has been instrumental in making program upgrades possible. He and his staff have exceeded fundraising goals on a yearly basis, achieving a 1,000% increase in fundraised dollars over a 12-year period. In July of 2014, Driscoll and his fundraising staff announced that they reached their goal of raising $4.2 million for the 2014 fiscal year. The additional revenue remains critical to building and supporting championship programs and providing the best opportunities to Providence College’s student-athletes. The funds Driscoll and his staff raise help directly support all 19 of Providence College’s Division I programs, the Friars Forever Fund and capital projects.

On June 10, 2008 Driscoll was named the 2007-08 Astro Turf Athletics Director of the Year for the Division I Northeast Region at the 43rd National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Annual Convention. He also was honored in 2009 by his alma mater, Ithaca College, when he received the Distinguished Sport Industry Leader award.

Currently, Driscoll is serving his first year as the President of the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association. He also represents the BIG EAST’s athletic directors on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serves as a mentor for the Division I-AAA mentoring program and serves on the Hockey East Television Negotiations and Marketing Committees. He previously served on the NCAA Division I Management Council, the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship Committee (Chair 2010-11) and was the Chair of the BIG EAST Athletic Directors in 2011-12. Driscoll was an NCAA Fellows Programs Executive Mentor.

Driscoll joined the Providence community after 14½ years in athletic administration at the University of California, Berkeley, culminating in serving as the Acting Executive Director for Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports. Prior to that, he was Cal’s Executive Associate Athletic Director and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department as well as overseeing football, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s water polo, rugby, strength training, equipment and the sports medicine programs.

Driscoll was hired at Cal as the Associate Athletic Director for Student Services, a position he held for five years. He then assumed the position of Executive Associate Athletic Director, at which point he was responsible for the administration of 27 varsity sports, a staff of 250 and a $36 million budget. Prior to coming to Providence, he served as the Acting Executive Director for Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports. During his tenure, Cal won over 20 national championships and competed in the Citrus, Copper, Alamo and Aloha Bowls. The Bears also finished as high as 12th in the NACDA Directors’ Cup.

Before arriving at Cal, Driscoll served six years (1981-87) as the Athletic Director and Chair of the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Intramural Sports at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. Prior to Mills, Driscoll was Assistant Athletic Director and Head Baseball and Hockey Coach at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. from 1977-81. Driscoll played hockey and baseball at Ithaca College (N.Y.), where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1974. He earned his Master of Science in Physical Education/Psychology of Sports from Ithaca in 1975.

[From Providence College web site]

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