In his six years at the Naval Academy, Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk has overseen a renaissance of Navy athletics. His administrative leadership in a number of areas has helped lead the program to one of the most successful periods in school history.

Gladchuk¹s efforts have been recognized on a national level as well, as the Division IA Athletic Directors Association named him the 2005 Bobby Dodd Athletic Director of the Year. The award is presented in recognition of an athletic director¹s support and commitment toward the successful advancement of the department, most specifically in the sport of football.

Additionally, he was recognized by the Secretary of the Navy for his contributions and service to the Navy and the Naval Academy with the Superior Public Service Award to the Department of the Navy.

Last year, the Navy football team posted a 9-4 record, won the Commander-In-Chief¹s Trophy for a school-record fourth-consecutive year and participated in a bowl game for a record fourth-straight year.

The football team isn't the only successful squad at the Naval Academy, as Navy athletic teams have won better than 60 percent of their contests during Gladchuk's tenure and close to 70 percent over the last two years.

Gladchuk has been able to parlay Navy¹s athletic success into an exclusive television deal with College Sports Television that has significantly increased Navy¹s television exposure. CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network, televises every Navy home and select neutral site football games (excluding Notre Dame and Army which will be televised nationally by CBS), as well as other Midshipmen men's and women's athletic events, original programming and documentaries centered on the storied Navy athletic program. The long-term multi-media agreement includes internet streaming, broadband and video-on-demand rights and high definition rights. A major part of the agreement was that all home football games would be played on Saturday for the convenience of the Navy alumni.

Gladchuk has also added radio giants WBAL (1090 AM) in Baltimore and Washington Post Radio (1500 AM and 107.7 FM) and WFED (1050 AM) in Washington D.C./Northern Virginia to Navy¹s radio network.

WBAL Radio, which is also the home of the Ravens, is Maryland's dominant and most powerful radio station. Since 1925, generations of Marylanders have turned to WBAL Radio for news, weather, thought-provoking discussions and sports. As Maryland's only 50,000-watt AM station, WBAL's signal travels substantially further than any other station in the state.

Washington Post Radio, which is also the home of the Washington Nationals, is a 50,000-watt station that will air a minimum of 10 regular-season football games, while WFED (1050 AM) in Northern Virginia will broadcast all 12 regular-season football games.

Since being introduced as the Academy's 28th Director of Athletics on Sept. 4, 2001, Gladchuk has hit the ground running. From the hiring of Paul Johnson as head football coach to the renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Gladchuk has made improvements in several key areas that will prove more success on the athletic fields for years to come. Recent head coaching hires such as Bill Roberts in men¹s swimming, John Morrison in women¹s swimming, Paul Kostacopoulos in baseball and the all-time winningest women¹s lacrosse coach in NCAA history, Cindy Timchal, has advanced those programs into the national limelight.

In Gladchuk¹s tenure at the Naval Academy, he has seen 35 different teams win conference titles, while 23 teams have advanced to NCAA postseason play. Gladchuk has also worked tirelessly to bring back school spirit, working in conjunction with school officials to encourage midshipmen to attend events for all sports. Over the past four years, an average of 1,800 midshipmen have given up their leave time to travel to Navy¹s bowl game. Gladchuk has embraced the local community and alumni base, and is an often-requested speaker. His regular OeAsk the AD¹ column on navysports.com is one of the most popular features on Navy¹s internet site.

Gladchuk¹s biggest impact on the Academy in his first year was the hiring of Paul Johnson as a head football coach. Johnson came to the Naval Academy from Georgia Southern where he posted a 62-10 (.861) record, won two-straight I-AA National Championships (1999 and 2000) and was named the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year four-consecutive times (1997-2000).

After hiring Johnson, Gladchuk set his sights on a $42 million renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium where he completely refurbished the football stadium over a four-year time frame. The addition of 6,500 permanent seats on the sidelines and in the end zones, luxury boxes, dropping the field eight feet and moving the sidelines closer, two video scoreboards, a memorial plaza, upgraded restroom and concession areas, a perimeter walking path, new lighting, a new sound system, landscaping the grounds and storm water management highlight the list of renovations.

Gladchuk has worked closely with the city, county, state and neighborhood associations to ensure proper communication and sensitivity to issues that benefit both the NAAA and community at large. The NAAA was awarded the Green Star award by Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer for commitment to the environment during the ongoing renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Gladchuk and the NAAA have also teamed up with the Naval Academy Foundation to raise over $75 million in private giving for facilities such as the Brigade Sports Complex, Max Bishop Stadium (baseball), varsity squash courts, various team locker rooms and a number of practice facilities.

Other highlights of Gladchuk¹s tenure at the Naval Academy include the renegotiation of the Army-Navy contract through 2009 which will bring over $25 million to the two schools over the six games, scheduling Maryland, Notre Dame and Army at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to promote Navy football in the community, negotiating the extension of the Navy-Notre Dame football game television contract with CBS through 2008 and negotiating bowl deals with the Houston, Emerald, Poinsettia and Meineke Car Care Bowls.

Additionally, he is in negotiations with a number of other bowls for future considerations.

Gladchuk is also Chairman of the Executive Committee in the Patriot League and is on the NCAA Olympic Sport Liaison Committee.

Gladchuk came to the Naval Academy from the University of Houston, where he had been the Director of Athletics since July 18, 1997. Recognized as one of the nation¹s top leaders in intercollegiate athletics management, he guided the Cougars to 19 Conference USA Championships, while making significant strides in the academic success of their student-athletes, gender equity and fiscal management.

Before Houston, Gladchuk was the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Intramurals and Recreation for seven years at his alma mater, Boston College. Under Gladchuk, Boston College emerged as one of the NCAA¹s elite programs of the 1990s. The school¹s graduation rate for all student-athletes was over 90 percent and the Eagles won the College Football Association¹s Academic Achievement Award for the highest graduation rates among all Division I schools in three of his last five years at Boston College.

Prior to rejoining Boston College, Gladchuk served as AD at Tulane University from 1987-90. During his tenure, he directed the reinstatement of the Green Wave basketball program to Division I status. In addition, he oversaw the construction of new facilities for the athletics administration as well as baseball, track and field and tennis teams after a $25 million athletics campaign was successfully completed.

From 1985-87, he served as Associate AD at Syracuse University, heading operations, NCAA compliance, financial aid and facility operations. Gladchuk lettered in football at Boston College and graduated with honors in business management in 1973. He earned a master¹s in sports administration from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1974, where he began his career in intercollegiate athletics, including serving for seven years as Director of General Physical Education, Assistant and Associate Athletic Director for the university. He also has served as Director of Athletics and head football coach for the New Hampton (Prep) School in New Hampshire prior to leaving for UMass.

He and his wife, Kathy, have four children: John, a graduate of Loyola Marymount; Katie, a graduate of Boston College; Christie, a graduate of Trinity and Julie, a graduate of North Carolina.