Stony Brook Names New Athletic Director

Shawn Heilbron has been named the new director of athletics at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. announced Thursday evening.

Heilbron, who had been the senior associate athletic director for development at Oregon State University, was selected following a nationwide search.

“I am very excited to welcome Shawn Heilbron into the Stony Brook family, to lead our outstanding athletic program into the next chapter of its compelling and competitive Division I history,” Stanley said.

For the past three years, Heilbron led the OSU Athletics development program and served as a member of the management team for both the OSU Foundation and OSU Athletics.  He also led efforts to complete the Department of Intercollegiate Athletes’ $157 million fundraising goal as an element of OSU’s broader fundraising initiative, according to a Stony Brook press release.

Prior to his stint at OSU, Heilbron, a 1994 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, spent five years at UCLA, where he oversaw major gifts, the Wooden Athletic Fund, Bruin Varsity Club, endowments, special events, sports specific fundraising and planned gifts. He was responsible for more than $35 million in gifts to UCLA athletics during his tenure.

“Shawn Heilbron stood out among a highly qualified group of candidates,” said Barbara Chernow, the senior vice president for administration at Stony Brook who chaired the Athletic Director Search Committee. “Shawn is the right choice for Stony Brook and we all look forward to working with him.”

Heilbron's appointment comes five months after former Stony Brook AD Jim Fiore was forced out amid harassment allegations.

Heilbron and his wife, Bevin, plan to move to Long Island with their two sons, Asher and Ramsey, and daughter, Quinlan. 

"I am honored to be given this incredible opportunity because Stony Brook has come so far in such a short period of time, and I look forward to leading the team that will help shape the future of this program,” Heilbron said. “Stony Brook is well positioned as a University, and I am excited that President Stanley sees athletics as a way to enhance the Stony Brook brand on a national level, and I thank him for his trust and confidence in appointing me to this position."