Shawn Heilbron Named New AD at Stone Brooks

Shawn Heilbron, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development at the Oregon State University, has been named the new Director of Athletics at the Stony Brook University.

For the last three years, Heilbron was the director of OSU's Athletics Development Program and served as a member of the management team for both - the OSU Foundation and OSU Athletics. He was also the chief administrator for OSU's Men's football and basketball programs.

"His experience in Division I Athletics, his interest in preparing student athletes, and his demonstrated success growing Division I programs offers Stony Brook the winning combination of attributes needed to take the Seawolves into the next era of competition and excellence," said President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., in a statement.

Stanley said that athletics department is in need of major financial support, beyond state funding, to attain goals. As a result, prospective contenders with fundraising and management experience were a top priority for the search team.

"...So the fact he was involved with the administration of men's basketball and football, the revenue-generating sports, was important too," Stanley said, Newsday reports.

Seawolves have so far secured 48 conference championships, the student-athlete GPA is above 3.0 and the University will be soon inaugurating its new $21 million, 4,000-seat Stony Brook Arena.

Prior to the OSU, Heilbron had a five year stint with UCLA (managed the Wooden Athletic) and was at SMU for seven years (responsible for fundraising, marketing, sponsorship and ticket sales).

"I am excited that President Stanley sees athletics as a way to enhance the Stony Brook brand on a national level, and I thank him for his trust and confidence in appointing me to this position," said Heilbron.

Heilbron replaces long time Athletic Director (AD), Jim Fiore, who was fired November 19, after allegations about his inappropriate behavior against female coaches and athletes surfaced. The school decided to buy out the remainder of his contract for $800,000. No disciplinary charges were filed against Fiore.