DeRose named NAADD Donor of the Year

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Former CSU-Pueblo Director of Athletics and current president of DD Marketing, Dan DeRose, was named the 2009 National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) College Division Donor of the Year, the NAADD announced Monday.

DeRose created and serves as the president of Friends of Football, a 501 (c)3 organization, with the CSU-Pueblo department of athletics as the benefactor.  Being the driving force in the reinstatement of football, wrestling and women's track & field at an institution is no small feat, and he helped make those reinstatements at CSU-Pueblo possible through his generous giving. 

Not only did DeRose contribute $3.5 million of his own dollars to Friends of Football, but he initiated a fundraising campaign that generated more than $11 million.  With the donated money, Friends of Football built a football/track facility named the Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl, which includes a 24,000-square-foot field house containing coaches offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, an equipment room, a training room, a 4,000-square-foot weight room and a student-athlete study room.  The ThunderBowl itself seats 6,412 people with room for an additional 3,000 spectators. 

DeRose has worn many hats at CSU-Pueblo, beginning as an Academic All-American on the ThunderWolves football team.  He was later an assistant coach, and then served as athletics director from 1990-95 when his fundraising efforts earned him the 1995 NAADD College Division Fund Raiser of the Year Award.

NAADD Award winners will be recognized at NAADD's 16th Annual Convention, June 18-21 at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida.  On Friday, June 19, the winners will also be honored during the Learfield Sports Academy Directors' Cup Luncheon sponsored by NCAA Football.

About NAADD: NAADD is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities, enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics, and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics development and fund raising. For more information about NAADD, please visit www.naadd.com. NAADD is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 44th year. For more information on NACDA and the 11 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.