News Taffy

Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson announced Wednesday that Terry Mohajir, a 20-year veteran leader in collegiate athletics with a diverse background as an administrator, coach, student-athlete and city government participant, has been named A-State's 11th Director of Athletics.

An Arkansas State University alumnus, Mohajir's (pronounced MO-HA-JUR) career path went through three other NCAA Division I institutions, including the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Florida Atlantic and Kansas, before leading him back to his alma mater.

"I'm thrilled and honored to serve as the Director of Athletics at Arkansas State University," said Mohajir. "I'm very eager to join the university leadership and help take advantage of the amazing momentum that has been created. As an alumnus, and former student-athlete, I'm excited to have the opportunity to guide this athletics department toward making a national impact as part of this emerging university."

Mohajir's wealth of experience, history of success working with a university in ASU's current conference and his noted accomplishments at a BCS automatic qualifying school made him a clear choice to take over the reins at Arkansas State.

"Over the past month I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to a number of highly qualified individuals from California to the Carolinas who were either interested in becoming the athletic director at A-State or were recommending someone for the job – a clear indication that we are on the radar screen nationally," said Hudson. "During that time as we filtered through the input, it became clear that in Terry we had a unique opportunity to bring back a committed alum with the vision, energy, experience and persona to lead Red Wolves athletics during this exciting era."

Mohajir has gained national respect in collegiate athletics while working with some of the finest administrators and coaches in the country, such as former FAU, Louisville, Miami and Oklahoma head football coach Howard Schnellenberger.

"Arkansas State University is very lucky to get a talented and creative administrator in Terry Mohajir," said Schnellenberger. "I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. I know he will help take Arkansas State to the next level. I wish him and the program all my best."

The Overland Park, Kan., native has been involved with major fundraising campaigns at multiple universities, while also overseeing corporate sales, marketing promotions and ticket sales. He most recently served the last 13 months as Kansas' Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to his time with the Jayhawks, he spent a seven-year stint as Florida Atlantic's Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations from 2004-11 after working at UMKC from 1997-2004 as its assistant director of athletics for external relations.

"I am extremely excited about Terry Mohajir leading our athletics department into the future," said ASU System President Dr. Chuck Welch. "While we had a significant number of highly qualified and experienced candidates who expressed interest in the position, Terry stood out because of his energy, enthusiasm, presence, and passion for growing our programs. The fact that he has experience in the Big 12 Conference, as well as the Sun Belt Conference, provides Terry with a very diverse background perfectly suited for our situation. When asked why he was interested he simply said, 'This is my alma mater, and this is the perfect time to do special things at ASU.' Terry is the perfect fit at the right time. I have never been more excited about our future."

Mohajir worked at Kansas in a variety of capacities during two different stints, but during his latest stop in Lawrence he assumed responsibility for the Williams Education Fund that totaled more than $22 million in revenue for the fiscal year 2012. He supervised the athletics department's areas that generated more than $40 million in revenue. In addition, Mohajir oversaw Kansas' multimedia rights partnership for IMG. His most recent role was heavily focused on the market strategies for the proposed football stadium renovations.

"Terry's experience at KU, where the basketball program is legendary, and his obvious background in football and fundraising make him a terrific choice," said ASU Head Men's Basketball Coach John Brady. "Plus, he played here. He clearly knows A-State."

Mohajir went to Kansas from his position at Florida Atlantic, where he oversaw development, marketing, ticket sales, corporate sales and the media relations department. Foremost among his responsibilities was a fundraising campaign for a $70 million on-campus football stadium. His astute project management helped the Owls' football program reach the 2007 New Orleans Bowl in just its fourth year as an FBS program, an NCAA record for the fastest start-up program to go to a bowl game. During his tenure, FAU's athletics department enhanced its major gift program 800 percent, Owl Club giving increased 400 percent and special-events revenue increased 150 percent.

Mohajir's original connection to KU dated back to the early 1990s, when he was a graduate assistant and later an assistant offensive line and game-day special team's football coach for the Jayhawks (1993-96). He left Kansas in 1997 but didn't go far, staying in the Kansas City area to take an administrative position with the newly-created Division I UMKC Athletics program. There, he supervised marketing and promotions, sports information, fundraising, radio and TV contracts, corporate sales, tickets, event operations, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and men's soccer.

Under his leadership, the Kangaroos saw dramatic increases in endowment, sponsorships, ticket revenue and its donor base. One of his more visible accomplishments at UMKC was the fundraising and construction efforts for a new training room and strength and conditioning center.

During his time as an assistant coach at Kansas, Mohajir was on the staff that beat UCLA in the 1995 Aloha Bowl and had a final ranking of No. 9 in the AP poll. He was also a football ticket sales and promotions account executive for Kansas Athletics and earned a master's degree in sports management at KU in 1997.

Mohajir graduated from Arkansas State University with a major in sports management and a minor in marketing in 1993. He was as starter on ASU's football team. Mohajir is married to the former Julie Hammond and they have two daughters, Maria (11) and Molly (9), and son, Marco (4).