Loyola Athletic Director Brett Simpson won a pair of Athletic Director of the Year Awards this spring, one from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the other from the Southern States Athletic Conference.

Simpson, A’96, MBA’03, has spent 23 years with the Wolf Pack athletic department and has served as the director of intercollegiate athletics since 2014. In addition to these two recent distinctions, Simpson received the same award from the SSAC in 2019.

“One of the things that makes each award special is that they are selected by people for whom I have so much respect and admiration.” said Simpson, “It’s nice to be recognized by your peers who acknowledge and validate the work you are doing. It’s also special to share with our campus community.”

The NACDA award was voted on by a special committee of athletic directors, institutional presidents and other key athletic administrators, while the SSAC award was voted on by the conference’s athletic directors.

Considering the unprecedented nature of college sports during the spring of 2020, Simpson sees the awards as a bit of a “silver lining.”

“Without the hard work of our student-athletes both in the classroom and competition as well as our coaching and administrative staff, these awards don’t happen,” Simpson said.“I’m more proud of how our student-athletes handled the adversity of the last few months. You can see the results in how well we did this semester as a department in the classroom.”

Moving forward into the 2020-21 school year, Simpson says the athletic department’s focus remains unchanged.

“Our goals will remain the same to excel in the classroom, community, and competition.” said Simpson.