Hartwell Named New Troy AD
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: September 17, 2012
John
Hartwell has been named the new Troy University director of athletics,
TROY Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., announced Friday at
a press conference.
Hartwell, 47, comes to Troy following nine years at the University of Mississippi where he was the senior executive associate
athletics director, serving as the number two administrator in athletics.
Hartwell
served as the treasurer and chief operating officer of the University
of Mississippi Athletic Association Foundation, a 501 (c)(3)
organization
that generates over $17 million annually for the Ole Miss Athletics
Department through priority seating and major gifts.
He
was responsible for the day-to-day administrative oversight of the
football, men's basketball and baseball programs, along with sport
oversight
of the softball and men's and women's track & field and cross
country programs. Hartwell also oversaw the Rebels' business office,
ticket office, equipment room, merchandise sales, concessions and
football scheduling. Hartwell has scheduled several marquee
football games for the Rebels including a home-and-home series with
Texas beginning this season.
Hartwell
managed the growth of the Ole Miss athletic budget from $26 million in
the 2003 fiscal year to over $47 million in the 2012 fiscal year. He
also chaired the search to hire men's basketball head coach Andy Kennedy
in 2006. He was heavily involved in negotiations that increased
revenues with contracts for apparel and footwear (Nike), merchandise
sales (Sports Avenue/LIDS), concessions (Centerplate),
wireless provider (C Spire) and video boards (Daktronics). He served on
the Southeastern Conference Ticket Committee and was a leader of the
annual SEC Chief Financial Officer's Forum.
A
1987 graduate of The Citadel, Hartwell spent four plus years as a
certified public accountant with Ernst & Young before returning to
his alma mater
to serve as the director of internal audit in 1991. In his three years
working at The Citadel, Hartwell also was the basketball color
commentator for the Citadel Network. From 1994 to 1997 he was in private
business as the chief financial officer for a $36
million beverage distributor on the South Carolina coast.
Hartwell's
direct experience in athletics administration began as the assistant
athletic director for business at Georgia State in 1997. He was promoted
to associate athletic director for internal affairs in 1999, and his
responsibilities expanded to include sport supervision for baseball,
men's & women's golf and men's & women's track & field and
cross country. He also had oversight over the Panthers' athletic
facilities and game management in addition to his previous
responsibilities of all financial aspects of the department.
He
also was the color analyst for men's basketball on the Georgia State
Radio Network for the first three years he was at GSU. While at Georgia
State,
Hartwell earned a master's degree in sports administration.
Athletics
has always been a big part of Hartwell's life, starting in high school
where he was an all-state basketball selection at UMS-Wright in Mobile,
Ala. The 6-foot-7 forward played alongside current North Carolina State
head coach Mark Gottfried in high school. Hartwell went on to play
collegiately at The Citadel, where he was a three-year starter, a
four-year letterman and captain of the team as a senior
in 1987. Current Tulane head coach Ed Conroy was a collegiate teammate
of Hartwell's.
Hartwell
is married to Dr. Heather Seale Hartwell, and they have two daughters
Lauren, who is 3 years old, and Madison who was born on May 28. Hartwell
also has a 20-year old son, Hunter, who is a sophomore at Vanderbilt.
