Students, faculty, staff, administrators, former Peacock athletes, members of the Board of Trustees, MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor ’75 and the media gathered this morning to officially welcome Joseph Quinlan as the director of athletics at a press conference on the Center Court of the Yanitelli Recreational Life Center. Quinlan, who was named the interim director of athletics on November 14, 2011, is the seventh director of athletics at Saint Peter’s College and took over upon the departure of Patrick Elliott.
Marylou Yam, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at Saint Peter’s College, welcome the crowd in saying, “This is an exciting time for Saint Peter’s as it transitions to a university and it is also an exciting time for the Saint Peter’s athletic program as it welcomes a new director, Joe Quinlan, whose demonstrated leadership ability and experience in collegiate athletics will bring our program to new heights and greater achievements for our student athletes.”
“Joe has spent the last few months with us on campus as our interim director and his impact was felt immediately,” said Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., president of Saint Peter’s College. “While success in athletics is measured by the win column, Joe has always emphasized the “student” in student-athlete and I have every confidence that Joe’s leadership will position Saint Peter’s as the team to beat in the MAAC, both on the field and in the classroom.”
Quinlan was most recently the director of athletics at Seton Hall University from 2005-2010. Prior to his stint at Seton Hall, he was senior associate athletics director at Rutgers University from 1998-2003 and was then promoted to deputy director of athletics in 2003. Active among conference-wide initiatives, he served on the BIG EAST Championships and Competition Committee from 1999-2005.
“I am grateful to be named as the new director of athletics here at Saint Peter’s,” said Joseph Quinlan. “Our goal in athletics continues to be that we ensure that our students are educated and graduate with a Saint Peter’s degree and that their athletic experience is a productive one that, hopefully, generates more wins than losses.” He added “my responsibility, and my goal, is to advance our program, in concert with the College’s mission, in an effort to expand our presence here in Jersey City, within the league and on a global basis, where we are able.”
Quinlan’s broad-based experience includes a stint at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, beginning in the fall of 1994, where he directed the Meadowlands Organizing Committee for the 1996 NCAA Final Four. Quinlan also worked for Seton Hall from 1986-89. During the 1986-87 academic year, he was assistant sports information director. In 1987, he was promoted to assistant director of athletics where he was responsible for scheduling, team travel and home game management.
Following Seton Hall’s appearance in the 1989 Championship Game, Quinlan moved to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, where he was the assistant director of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. From 1992-1994, Quinlan was assistant athletics director at St. Bonaventure University. He began his career in collegiate athletics as a sports information director at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md. from 1984-86, before arriving at Seton Hall.