Illinois State

2014 Illinois State Baseball • 42 Timothy J. Flanagan was appointed 18th president of Illinois State University May 10, 2013. He began his service Aug. 15. The former president of Framingham State University has a successful history in leading universities, including serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of criminal justice at the College at Brockport, State University of New York. Flanagan received his master's and Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University of Albany, State University of New York. He has done post-graduate work at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Flanagan's recent accomplishments include creating academic programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, nursing, environmental science, criminology, and an MBA program while at Framingham State University. In his six-year tenure there, he also secured $175 million in capital investment and established record-setting levels of fundraising and private support. He launched the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university's history. The president also served as a leader in a national effort to improve the transition of first-year students, Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College. He has been active in creating partnerships between colleges, school districts and employers in the STEM fields, along with working on enhancing STEM teaching in grades K-12. Prior to joining Framingham State, Flanagan served as dean in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Under his leadership, enrollment increased by 20 percent and he quadrupled research and sponsored funds awarded to the college. He also collaborated on the development of a doctoral program in forensic psychology. Flanagan began his academic career as a criminal justice instructor at Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va. His awards include being ranked 11th among the most-cited authors in criminal justice journals; being chosen as a delegate to the White House Leadership Conference on Youth, drugs and Violence; being honored for outstanding contributions in the field of corrections in the United States and Canada by the American Probation and Parole Association; and receiving a Fellow Award for distinguished teaching and scholarly achievement from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Flanagan is active in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Committee on Teacher Education; the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics and the American Council on Education, Council of Fellows; and the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Commissioner's Working Group on Graduation Rates and Student Success. His wife, Nancy, holds a Ph.D. in nursing. They have two children and four grandchildren. DR. TIMOThy fLAnAgAn University President LARRy LyOnS Director of Athletics Quality facility upgrades from Redbird Arena to Duffy Bass Field to Hancock Stadium provide a visual picture of the quality leadership Larry Lyons has shown during more than 27 years with Illinois State athletics, leading up to his May 2013 appointment as Director of Athletics. The renovation of Hancock Stadium, which helped shape the new "front door" to the Illinois State University campus and Bloomington-Normal community, opened Sept. 21, 2013. Its opening marked the latest and largest in a long line of Redbird Athletics facility improvements and other projects that Lyons' oversaw. It is hardly ironic that the native of nearby Pontiac, Ill., is began his tenure as athletics director focused on the completion of the $26 million renovation of Hancock Stadium. His creative talents in finance, facilities and administrative leadership have enhanced opportunities for Illinois State University student- athletes to achieve their goals and reach for their dreams. In the process, those student-athletes have won conference championships and earned academic degrees at the highest levels in more than 100 years of Redbird Athletics history. Beyond facilities, Lyons' leadership has resulted in financial stability through the enhancement and quality expenditure of all five principal forms of funding; student fees, development dollars, income fund, tuition waivers plus branding and ticket revenue. Lyons has been the athletics department's liaison to the University for human resources, administrative and fee-related projects. Also serving as campus representative to the ISU Foundation Board of Directors for three terms, the certified public accountant became known throughout college athletics for his fiscal skills. His ability to craft winning competitive bids for post-season tournaments, both conference and NCAA, has provided the competitive "home court" advantage for many quality Redbird teams, and has helped Illinois State earn a national reputation for hosting significant competitions. Additionally, Lyons has served as the liaison to the Weibring Golf Club, supervised the athletic training, athletic equipment and the strength and conditioning units, while providing administrative leadership for men's and women's golf and baseball. He also assisted with administrative leadership roles with the football and men's basketball programs and was instrumental in the fostering the current apparel and equipment contract with Nike. Enhancing the fan experience goes hand-in-hand with supporting student- athlete success, and the opening of Hancock Stadium, Redbird fans will enjoy a facility focused on the latest in comfort and service. Arriving on campus during the construction of Redbird Arena (opening in 1989), Lyons has also had leadership roles in several major facility construction and renovation projects, including the Kaufman Football Building (2000), the Owen Strength and Conditioning Center (2005), the Hancock Stadium turf replacement (2007), video scoreboard installations in Redbird Arena and Hancock Stadium (2007), the Gregory Street Tennis Courts (2008), the Redbird Arena Media Room (2010), the Redbird Arena Video Production Suite (2010), and the Franke Family men's basketball locker room (2012). Besides Hancock, recent projects under construction or recently completed include the volleyball locker room in Redbird Arena and the Jim and Carole Mounier Golf Training Center. Lyons' involvement on campus has included a host of committees and task forces including his current efforts with the Campus Master Plan committee. As the landscape of college athletics becomes more complex and challenging, Lyons will continue to bring people and resources together to keep Redbird Athletics a model for success which other programs will continue to emulate. Lyons earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois in 1978 and a second bachelor's degree in accounting from Illinois State in 1986. Lyons and his wife, Maureen reside in Normal, Ill. They have two grown children: daughter Kristin, a speech therapist at a children's hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and son Matt, who has followed in his father's footsteps and currently serves as Assistant Athletics Director for Development at Illinois State. ATHLETICS ADMINISTRATION

• Cover