July 23, 2003
Director of Athletics Jim Fiore's Biography
Jim Fiore's Hiring Announcement
Press Conference Photos
Reaction to Jim Fiore's Hiring
"Greetings, it is wonderful to see all of you here today. I am so excited because this is a great day for Stony Brook and it is great to have you all here to celebrate as we introduce our new athletic director Jim Fiore. We are looking towards a great future . . . I am also grateful to Dick Laskowski to the leadership he has shown and the remarkable things that he has done here. He has brought us from Division III to Division I as fast as we could move and got us into the America East Conference."
Comments from New York State Senator Ken LaValle
"President Kenny this is another exciting day, a new beginning for Jim Fiore, the University and the athletic department. Jim, you made a good choice by coming here. This a great university, a national university that excels in scholarship . . . the people who are here that you have probably not yet gotten to know are super first-class individuals. Today is a marriage of a first class individual, Jim Fiore, to a first class institution with first class people. Good luck to you Jim."
President Kenny about Fiore's accomplishments
"Jim has had quite a remarkable trajectory in athletic circles. The people at Princeton were not happy that he was leaving . . . He comes to us with a extraordinary record. He has been a senior associate athletic director in a program that has 38 sports and I think that you are aware of how strong Princeton is in terms of athletics and academics. He definitely fits the picture for Stony Brook because what we are looking for is a really strong athletic program with a really strong academic tradition that matches the academic tradition of Stony Brook. Jim has the energy, drive, the enthusiasm and the intelligence to take this program in the tradiotn of Stony Brook - to take it very far, very fast and I am delighted to introduce him to you, our new athletic director, Jim Fiore ."
Opening Comments from Jim Fiore
"I am absolutely humbled by the turnout here today. I am energized and I hope when you leave here today, you will feel the same way. Before I get to philosophy, expectations and goals, what you are going to learn from me real quick is that I am about family. The people in this room are our family. There are many people here that have supported me through this journey, not only my professional journey, but my journey of life. First and foremost, my wife Lisa. She is my best friend and my backbone and somebody who has been with me through this crazy transition we call life . . . Additionally my parents, my sisters, my in-laws and some of my best friends growing up are here today and I thank them for being here. So much of who they are is who I am. You are going to learn quickly that I am about people and I am about passion and that is what we are going to do everyday. We are going to deal with people and we are going to do it with passion. I also want to acknowledge the search committee . . . our corpoarte sponsors and donors, clearly you have helped us make a great leap and we will need you now more than ever to take the next step. Someone who is not here today but who means a lot to me is my former boss Gary Walters. His integrity, excessively high expectations and the ability to hold people accountable is something I will take with me into the future. If our department can emaulate what Gary has done at Princeton, we will have been a tremendous success."
Fiore on acknowledging the past
"We need to acknowledge and celebrate Dick Laskowski and Sandy Weeden. They gave a combined 42 years of their lives, their blood, sweat and tears to this insittuion. Not only from Divison III to Divisoin I, but to lay the foundation for and the platform for us to take this next leap. I thank them and they won't soon be forgotten."
Fiore on leaving Princeton
Princeton was a really tough place to leave. The quality of the people, the quality of the facilites, the quality of the family.
Fiore on his philosophy
"We will be smart in our decision making, smart in our allocation of resources, smart in the relationships we build but we are also going to be strong - strong in our convictions, strong in our morals and strong in our work ethic. Together we will bring this department to great heights. My plan and vision is very simple. For the scholar athlete, I want a positive and meaningful educational experience through athletics. I want a 100 percent graduation rate. I want the ability to compete at the highest level. I want to improve the quality of their expereince. I want to win games. But most improtantly, I want to prepare them to be leaders, leaders in life. What I mean by that is this: leaders in their families after graduation, in their profession and in their communites."
Fiore on building a culture
"We will build a winning culture, one of high accountabiity and high expectations. A winning culture. We are going recruit with class, act with class and be first in class. Team Stony Brook, Family Stony Brook. Culure of family . . .a culture of unwavering faith in our mission, our goals and expectations."
