Jacksonville University

The second director of athletics in JU history, Dr. Judson Harris took the reins of the athletic department and led the program to new heights in his 14 years in charge of the Dolphins.

His tenure saw the JU basketball team play for the national title, the men’s rowing team win national titles as well as the baseball team finishing ranked in the top 25.

One of Dr. Harris’ enduring qualities was his ability to keep JU moving forward.

With the emergence of conference affiliation in the mid-1970s, Dr. Harris was going to make sure JU was not left behind. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Sun Belt Conference, which JU helped found in 1975 and was a member of until 1998.