James E. Delany

Only the Big Ten's fifth commissioner since its founding in 1896, James E. Delany enters his 19th year in that role. He has led the Big Ten through significant periods of change and growth that have helped the conference maintain its preeminent position as one of the nation's leaders in providing quality athletic and academic experiences for young people.

Some of the accomplishments and changes that the conference has experienced under Delany's leadership since he arrived in 1989 have included:

INNOVATION

• Expansion of the conference to 11 institutions with the addition of Penn State in June 1991;
• Established Big Ten bowl tie-ins beginning in 1991, which now includes annual participation in the Rose, Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight and Motor City Bowls;
• Creation of the first national conference-owned television network devoted to the athletic and academic programs of a single conference. The Big Ten Network, a joint venture with Fox, is set to launch in August 2007 and will telecast some 350 events and over 660 hours of institutional non-athletic programming annually;
• Developed the first collegiate version of football instant replay implemented during the 2004 season;
• Negotiated extensions of ABC, CBS and ESPN agreements, beginning with the 2007-08 season and covering over 130 events annually;
• Participated in NCAA, BCS and Big Ten media negotiations, resulting in rights fees in excess of 10 billion dollars, since 1990;
• Adoption of the Gender Equity Action Plan (GEAP) that spans a 16-year period. This program includes three Phases. The first, Phase I, began in 1992 when the Big Ten became the first conference to voluntarily adopt participation goals for female student-athletes. Phase II, commonly known as "Dream Big," was initiated in the summer of 1998 as a public outreach campaign that encourages young girls in grades K-8th to participate in sports. Phase III, a marketing campaign launched to support and better promote conference women's olympic sports, began in 2002. Over 2,000 women's participation opportunities have been created during this time frame, resulting in a 53/47 male/female participation ratio;
• Implementation of conference-wide sportsmanship initiatives focusing on creating safer venues for visiting teams, officials and fans. A Big Ten Sportsmanship Award was established and the conference has recognized more than 1,300 student-athletes in the past five years for demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship;
• Established a Big Ten library of more than 4,000 classic football and basketball games.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS AND BROAD-BASED ATHLETIC PROGRAMS

• Provides approximately $90 million in athletic scholarship aid to more than 8,400 men and women student-athletes on 275 teams;
• Since 1989, teams from Big Ten institutions have won NCAA, BCS or national championships in the following 20 sports:
  Men's Basketball (2000)
  Women's Basketball (1999)
  Men's Cross Country (2005, 1992)
  Fencing (2007, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995)
  Field Hockey (2001)
  Football (2002, 1997)
  Men's Golf (2002)
  Men's Gymnastics (2007, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1996)
  Men's Ice Hockey (2007, 2006, 2003, 2002, 1998, 1996, 1990)
  Women's Ice Hockey (2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)
  Women's Lacrosse (2007, 2006, 2005)
  Men's Soccer (2004, 2003, 1999, 1998, 1994)
  Softball (2005)
  Men's Swimming and Diving (1995)
  Synchronized Swimming (2004)
  Men's Tennis (2003)
  Men's Indoor Track and Field (2007)
  Men's Volleyball (1994)
  Women's Volleyball (1999)
  Wrestling (2007, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1992, 1991)

FOOTBALL

• Overseeing increased depth and competitiveness in football, with nine different conference teams earning at least a share of the Big Ten title since 1990. In addition, seven different programs have played in the Rose Bowl in that time, as the conference has won seven of its last 12 games in Pasadena. In the last decade, Big Ten football teams have won two national championships and posted two undefeated seasons;
• Active in developing the Bowl Championship Series. Since 1998, Big Ten teams have competed in more BCS games than any other conference;
• Unprecedented attendance growth in football, as each of the top 10 single-season total attendance records have been established during his tenure, including a single-season total of 5,499,439 in 2002 and an average record of 72,566 patrons per game set in 2005.

BASKETBALL

• Continued success in men's basketball, with nine Final Four teams since his arrival, including seven over the last eight seasons and a pair of national semifinalists in 2000 and 2005. In women's basketball, the Big Ten has collected eight national semifinal and three championship game appearances, including the first national title in conference history in 1999;
• Has led the country in average attendance for men's basketball in each of the last 31 years including a conference record of 2.2 million fans in 2000-01. In women's basketball, the league has surpassed the 600,000 mark in total attendance in each of the last 10 seasons, including a record 751,000 in 2003-04;
• Formation of men's and women's basketball postseason tournaments, as well as Challenge series with various conferences including the ACC, Big 12 and SEC;
• Implemented the Big Ten Men's and Women's Basketball Foreign Tours, which concluded in the summer of 2006. The Tours gave hundreds of student-athletes the opportunity to travel abroad, visiting such places as Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Slovakia. Over a 13-year span, the men's teams posted a 51-34 record while the women's teams went 51-18.

COMMUNITY

• Creation and expansion of a community outreach program, SCORE (Success Comes Out of Reading Everyday), through which the conference office has partnered with two Chicago elementary schools to improve reading performance. In 17 years, over 6,000 children have participated in this program;
• Establishment of the "Big Ten 9-11 Scholarship Fund". Following the national tragedy on September 11, 2001, the Big Ten Conference, through its intercollegiate athletic department revenues, pledged a $1 million scholarship contribution to assist the families of those affected by the terrorist attacks;
• Developed a conference relief campaign to support victims affected by the 2005 hurricanes. During the 2005-06 season, donations to the American Red Cross Relief Fund were collected at each Big Ten Championship/Tournament;
• Established through the Big Ten Network, 110 on-campus internships for academic credit beginning in 2007-08.

The 59-year old Delany is a native of South Orange, N.J. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of North Carolina in 1970 and juris doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1973. At UNC, Delany was a three year member of the varsity basketball team, serving as tri captain in 1970. As a Tar Heel, Delany twice participated in NCAA Final Four competition.

After earning his law degree, Delany served as counsel for the North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee from 1973 to 1974, and was staff attorney for the North Carolina Justice Department from 1974 to 1975.

Delany's distinguished career in administering intercollegiate athletics began at the NCAA where he was employed as an enforcement representative from 1975 79. For the next decade, he served as commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, where he oversaw the growth and enhancement of OVC athletic programs for men and women.

Active in the community, Delany has coached several youth teams and has been associated with Special Olympics and YMCA endeavors at various times.

Delany and his wife, Catherine "Kitty" Fisher Delany, also an attorney, have two sons, Newman, 18 years old and James Chancellor, 15 years old. The Delanys reside in Hinsdale, Ill.

updated June 2007