University of Connecticut Athletics
Jack Hayes Named Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development
9/1/2026 10:00:00โฏAM | General
The UConn Department of Athletics has named Jack Hayes its Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development, announced by Director of Athletics David Benedict on Monday.
Hayes takes on the role during a period of sustained success for UConn Athletics' development efforts. Over the past five years, the department has raised nearly $200 million in gifts, while Husky Athletic Fund membership has grown by 56% to more than 9,300 benefactors.
Hayes returned to UConn in the July of 2025 to serve as the Associate Director for Principal Gifts. He most recently served in the role of interim Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development for the Huskies since April of 2026. He previously served as an associate athletic director at UConn from 2001-2004.
When he returned to UConn, Hayes brought more than two decades of athletic administration experience, most recently serving as Vice President & Director of Athletics at Nichols College from 2022 to 2025. At Nichols, he was instrumental in the Bison Club and annual Bison Blitz fundraising initiative, helping drive total gifts to Athletics to a record high in 2025. His tenure featured remarkable achievements including the 2023 men's basketball Elite Eight run and program-record performances in baseball (29 wins in 2024) and softball (32 wins in 2025). Under his leadership, the women's tennis team captured its first Conference of New England Championship since 2018.
Prior to Nichols College, Hayes served as Brown University's athletic director from 2012 to 2021, overseeing 34 NCAA Division I teams. During his tenure, the Bears earned 26 academic All-American awards, two Senior CLASS awards and a National Player of the Year honor. They won six Ivy League championships and made post-season appearances in 14 sports. Hayes oversaw the planning and fundraising for $50 million of construction and renovation projects. In 2018, Hayes received the Frank Lanning Award in recognition of his contributions to the Rhode Island sports community.
From 2004 to 2012, Hayes served as director of athletics at Hofstra University, where the Pride captured 21 Colonial Athletic Association championships and made 35 post-season appearances, including 26 NCAA tournaments. He also reintroduced the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame after a 50-year absence and led the effort to retire the uniform numbers of 23 prominent former student-athletes.
Hayes has served on various NCAA and conference committees, including the NCAA Leadership Council and the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Committee, which he chaired in 2019. He held leadership positions at UConn, Fordham, St. John's and Fairfield before taking the athletic director position at Hofstra.
A native of Providence, R.I., Hayes earned a bachelor's degree in 1989 at Providence College, where he was a three-year starter on the lacrosse team, and earned his master's degree from the Neag School of Education with a concentration in sports management and a master's degree in 1992.
