Beginning in January of next year, Daniel Andersen will return to his alma mater to serve as the new Director of Athletics.
The Athletic Department at Franciscan University of Steubenville has announced that Daniel Andersen, who graduated back in 1997, will return to his alma mater after being named the new Director of Athletics.
Andersen will spend time on the University’s campus this fall as he meets with Athletics staff and familiarizes himself with the school’s 20 NCAA Division III varsity sports teams before assuming his duties full-time in January. He will become the fourth Director of Athletics since varsity sports returned to Franciscan University of Steubenville back in 2007.
In an article posted on Franciscan University of Steubenville’s website, Dr. Dan Dentino, who serves as the vice president of Student Life, talked about the importance of athletics to the school body, saying, “Athletics is an integral part of Franciscan University and provides an exciting opportunity for us to live our core values of encounter, conversion, and community. Danny Andersen is the right person to build on Franciscan’s unique athletics history and charism of forming joyful disciples while being a light to all whom we encounter both on and off the field.”
Dr. Dentino went on to speak highly of Andersen’s wealth of experience that should greatly benefit the Baron teams as they strive to move to the next level of excellence, saying, “As a graduate of the University, he embraces our mission and has demonstrated excellence as a transformational leader throughout his professional career.”
Andersen is a former student of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he graduated back in 1997 with a BA in Theology. He then went on to the University of Mississippi where he earned his JD summa cum laude in 2001. After graduating from law school, he served as a clerk for the Honorable W. Allen Pepper, Jr., U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Mississippi. Then in 2014, he became a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service. Through these high levels of public service, Andersen has developed a high proficiency of leadership experience. He served for four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps. He then went on to serve for 26 years as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel for the CIA.
Andersen was quoted about his new position, saying, “Franciscan University is a special place that has had profound and enduring significance in my life in almost every facet. It is truly my alma mater in every sense of the term. I am grateful to Franciscan’s president, Father Pivonka, and the University’s leadership for the opportunity to return as director of Athletics and help form the next generation of student-athletes as we compete at the highest level and advance the mission of the University.”
While he has spent much of his professional life in the legal field, Andersen is not a stranger to athletics: he was an award-winning high school basketball player, and one of the original members of Franciscan’s Club basketball team in the time before the school was granted membership into the NCAA. He also played strong safety in the semi-pro Eastern Football League, has coached a wide range of youth sports, has completed many triathlons, and completed two Ironman races.
The athletics program that Andersen is coming into has been doing well ever since entering Division III of the NCAA back in the fall of 2007. The program has 20 varsity programs that have collectively won 35 conference championships. The Barons have been full time members of the PAC, or Presidents’ Athletic Conference, for the past three years in all of its sports except for men’s rugby, which plays in the ARU, or Allegheny Rugby Union. Since 2012, eight different athletes have earned All-American honors, Claire Walters being the most recent, who received the honor in cross country last year.
Andersen is married to his wife, Liz, and together they have four children: Joe, Maria, Max, and Clara.
Franciscan University’s assistant athletic director of Compliance and Operations and senior woman administrator, Alexis Basil, will serve as the interim director of Athletics until January when Andersen will take on the position full time. Basil has been a part of Franciscan Athletics for the past eight years, and has demonstrated herself to be an important part of the Athletics department’s leadership team.
Basil weighed in on the addition of Andersen, saying, “We are excited to welcome Danny into our Baron family! With his extensive leadership experience and his personal and professional focus on mission and excellence, we are confident he will elevate this department’s impact both here in our campus community and as we continue to grow and compete in the President’s Athletic Conference.”
Dentino also noted his admiration for Basil and her commitment and work ethic to the school’s athletics department, saying, “I want to thank Alexis for the work she has done over the past several months and for the work she will continue to do as a member of the athletics leadership team moving forward.”
More information about Franciscan University of Steubenville can be found at the school’s website.