Athletic Development Adds Three Staff Members
August 23, 2006 | General
Aug. 23, 2006
The University of Louisville Athletic Department has hired three new staff members in the Cardinal Athletic Fund and Development areas. Lisa Crespo has been hired as the new director of athletic development, Cooper Jones as the assistant athletic director of development and major gifts and Tom Keith is now the assistant director of development.
"We are very excited to have all three of these outstanding individuals join our staff. Each one brings great experience, talent and enthusiasm to our development team," said U of L Associate Athletic Director Gary Friedman.
Crespo comes to U of L from Syracuse University where she served as the Director of the Orange Pack. There she oversaw the annual giving program in athletics. During her seven years at SU, she coordinated the Dave Bing Basketball and Ernie Davis Football Funds. Prior to her stint there, she was an athletic development fund assistant at the University of Connecticut, where among her responsibilities, she was the coordinator of the UConn Women's Basketball Tip-Off Club. She earned her undergraduate degree in graphic design at UConn and then went on to earn a graduate degree in sport management at her alma mater.
Cooper Jones comes to U of L from the University of Maryland where he served as the Terrapin Club Director of Major Gifts for the past four years. There he oversaw more than 8,500 members whose donations provided $9.4 million dollars in athletic scholarships. He acted as the lead fundraiser for a $15 million, three-year Gossett Football Team House Campaign as well as running event management for the Tyser Tower (football) and Comcast Center(basketball) Skyboxes. Prior to his stint at Maryland, he was a development officer at Georgia Tech where he managed the Fifth Down Club, the Tech Young Alumni Program. A former letterwinner and captain in football at Ohio University, he graduated with a degree in journalism and public relations.
Thomas Keith comes to the athletic department from the University of Louisville's College of Business where he was the assistant director of business development and the Ulmer Career Management Center while also serving as a part-time instructor in the sport administration program. Prior to that, he was the associate director of the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation at Western Kentucky where he helped generate 65 percent increase in annual giving and oversaw the luxury suites in Diddle Arena. He earned his undergraduate degree at Tennessee and both an MBA and a graduate degree in sport administration at the University of Louisville.
