2013-14 Bucknell Men's Basketball Media Guide - Bucknell Athletics

John P. hardt
Director of athletics & RecreatIon
At the helm of a proud and flourishing
Bison athletics program is director of athletics
and recreation John Hardt, who is now in
his 14th year at Bucknell and his 28th year in
athletics administration. Hardt administers a
broad-based sports program with a proud and
successful history.
Since his arrival, Hardt has orchestrated
one of the nation’s most assertive facilities
overhauls, built and maintained relationships
with major donors, restructured the athletics
administration in order to help Bucknell stay
ahead of the curve in the fast-paced world of
Division I athletics and built upon Bucknell’s
long-standing tradition of scholar-athlete
excellence.
Hardt is privileged to oversee a varsity
athletics program that has long been at the
head of the class in the Patriot League, both on
the playing fields and in the classroom. From
Presidents’ Cups to Academic All-Americans to
the nation’s best graduation rate, Bison Athletics
carries a proud heritage.
While building on Bucknell’s athletic and
academic excellence is paramount, Hardt has
also incorporated progressive ideas in the
area of external relations. Initiatives such as
increased online video programming, a new
graphics identity package, an informative
and visually appealing athletics website and a
revamped Bison Club all serve to bring Bison
Athletics into the homes of its supporters.
During his productive tenure at Bucknell,
Hardt has overseen continual growth in Bison
Club donations, including a record $2.2 million
in 2011-12, and he has seen the program benefit
from several major gifts. While the Kenneth
G. Langone Athletics and Recreation Center is
the crown jewel of a successful university fundraising
campaign, other significant offerings
include a $7.6 million donation from William
Graham — one of the largest in university history
— which was directed toward women’s
athletics and the successful restoration of
wrestling to varsity status. Graham Field, the
AstroTurf venue at the West Fields, was also a
result of that gift.
Other major gifts have included the funding
of the FieldTurf playing surface and new
lighting in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium,
the Holmes Stadium grandstand/press
box facility that supports both Graham Field
and Emmitt Field, the ongoing upgrades to
the baseball and softball facilities, a brand new
instructional golf center, as well as endowments
for football, track and field, water polo and
swimming and diving.
At Bucknell, Hardt has initiated groundbreaking
deals in the area of apparel (adidas),
marketing (Nelligan Sports Marketing) and
sports medicine (Geisinger Sports Medicine).
While much has been achieved in the last
13 years, Hardt’s vision for Bison Athletics carries
well into the future. Working with campus
and department leadership, he has developed
a long-range plan for Bucknell Athletics that
meshes with the University’s strategic plan,
entitled The Plan for Bucknell. Hardt’s plan
focuses on future facilities upgrades, places
an emphasis on diversity and gender equity,
and promises the continued commitment to a
student-centered athletics and recreation program
that adheres to the student-athlete ideal.
In the fall of 2011, Hardt announced the
launching of the Bucknell Bison Leadership
Academy, a program designed identify, develop,
challenge and support student-athletes
and coaches in their continual quest to become
leaders in academics, in athletics and in life.
Hardt, who received the Gen. Robert R.
Neyland Outstanding Athletic Director Award in
March 2008 the All-American Football Foundation’s
91st Banquet of Champions, also remains
very active in athletics governance at the
national level. In 2006-07 he served as chair of
the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision
Committee, he recently completed a four-year
term on the Division I Baseball Committee,
and in 2012 he earned a presigious post on the
NCAA Division I Leadership Council.
Hardt began his tenure at Bucknell on
February 15, 2000, after serving four years
as associate director of athletics at Michigan
State University. While there, Hardt supervised
the sports medicine staff, strength and conditioning,
equipment operations, computing
and tech services and NCAA/Big Ten rules
compliance. In addition, he handled legal and
contractual issues for the department.
Prior to his tenure at MSU, Hardt spent five
years at Syracuse University as director of athletic
compliance and four years with the NCAA’s
national office as a compliance representative.
A native Iowan, Hardt is a 1984 honors
graduate of the University of Iowa, and he was
a member of the Hawkeyes’ 1982 Rose Bowl
football team. He later earned his law degree
from Iowa and is a doctoral candidate in Iowa’s
College of Education.
2013-14 Bucknell Men’s Basketball • 115 • @BisonSports
Athletics Administration
The Hardt File . . .
• PERSONAL
Birthdate: May 24, 1962
Wife: The former Carole Bourgeacq of Arcachon,
France
Married: September 19, 1987
Children: Noah (Bucknell Class of 2011) (24), Elodie
(21) and Madeleine (19)
• EDUCATION
Charles City Comm. H.S., Charles City, Iowa
Univ. of Iowa, B.A. in English, 1984
Univ. of Iowa, Juris Doctorate, 1988
Univ. of Iowa, Doctoral Candidate (education &
admin./higher education)
• ATHLETIC
Charles City Community H.S.: Football
University of Iowa: Football
• PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Univ. of Iowa: Admin. Assistant, 1986-88
NCAA: Compliance Representative, 1988-92
Syracuse University: Director of Athletic Compliance,
1992-96
Michigan State Univ.: Associate Director of Athletics,
1996-99
• AFFILIATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS
Patriot League Administrative Committee (2000-pres.; Chair
2006-pres.)
Patriot League Executive Committee (2005-pres.)
ECAC Finance Committee (2001-06)
NCAA Division I Leadership Council (2012-pres.)
NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification (2000-06)
NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee (2003-07)
Division I FCS Football Committee (2003-07; Chair 2007)
NCAA Division I Baseball Committee (2008-12)
NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship Committee (2003-05); Walter
Byers Scholarship Committee (1994-98; Chair 1998)
Patriot League Football Liaison
National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics
(NACDA)
Charter Member of National Association of Athletics Compliance
Coordinators (NAACC)