National Football Foundation

Coming off one of the most successful years in college athletics history, Florida's Jeremy Foley has firmly established himself as one of the nation's most influential athletics directors. Balancing a $69 million budget and fostering one of the most academically sound student-athlete programs in the country, he has come a long way from his internship position with the Gator Ticket Office in 1976.

Named UF director of athletics in 1992, the New London,
N.H., native is directly responsible for more than $149 million in capital improvements, including two major expansions of the football stadium and the addition of a multipurpose fieldhouse on campus. Under his watch, UF squads have won 10 national titles, highlighted by the football team's 2006 BCS National Championship and back-to-back NCAA crowns for the men's basketball team in '06 and '07. Gator teams have finished in the top 10 nationally 139 times and have won 71 Southeastern Conference championships under the Foley reign.

Named Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal National Athletic Director of the Year in 2006, his commitment to academic excellence is equally impressive. The National Football Foundation has honored two Gators as National Scholar-Athletes with Foley at the helm, including the 1996 Draddy Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel. UF boasts 63 Academic All-Americans since 1992, the fourth highest among all Division I schools. As head of the University Athletic Association, Foley's efforts have helped raise $34.4 million in donations since 1990 for academic programs at UF.

Born in Washington, D.C., Foley received his bachelor's in psychology from Hobart College (N.Y.) in 1974 and two years later received his Masters of Education in Sports Administration from Ohio University. An avid runner, he twice ran the Boston Marathon and enjoys working in the community during his spare time.