Eastern Washington University Athletic Director Bill Chaves has been honored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics as one of 28 winners of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award. Chaves is concluding his sixth year at the helm of the EWU Athletic Department.
"This is a tremendous honor for the work that has been done by our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” said Chaves. “We also would not have success without the support of the Eastern Board of Trustees, President Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo and the entire Eastern community.”
Chaves has brought stability, progressive leadership and innovation to Eastern since his arrival in 2007. His tenure has been punctuated by the installation of the first red synthetic football surface world-wide in 2010. After garnering tremendous attention for EWU with this installation, the football team promptly went undefeated (8-0) on the turf en route to the program’s first-ever FCS national title.
Chaves has also overseen several recently-completed projects, including new seating at Reese Court, a $1.5 million locker room update project, and video board installation at both Roos Field and Reese Court.
Currently, all of EWU’s athletic programs have team grade point averages of 3.0 or greater, and all of its teams have a NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 930 or better. In 2009-10, EWU won its first-ever Big Sky Presidents’ Cup, which is determined by overall athletic and academic performance.
Away from the classroom and playing fields, Chaves initiated a partnership with Special Olympics-Washington, where all of its athletic programs assist with several initiatives each academic year.
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Executive Director Bob Vecchione explains the ADOY Award is essential because it highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student- athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities.
