JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University announced the signing of Senior Vice President/Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert to a new contract on Thursday.
 
The new agreement commits Ricker-Gilbert, who has led the athletic department since May of 2016, for five more years to stay at JU through 2027.
 
"I am thankful to President Cost, the Board of Trustees, our staff, and our wonderful student-athletes for continuing to believe in what we are doing here. To me, Jacksonville University, the city of Jacksonville, and Duval County are home," said Ricker-Gilbert. "People make a place and we have outstanding people. We have made great progress over the last eight years, but have much more work to do for our student-athletes.
 
"I get excited to come to campus every day because I know the focus is on our young people and that is why there is no place I'd rather be."
 
Ricker-Gilbert became the youngest Division I Athletic Director in the nation when he was appointed to the role in 2016, having served in various roles at JU for two years. In the time since, he has overseen some of the greatest growth in JU Athletics history, and was recognized as Athletic Director of the Year in 2021 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
 
"Alex is a sharp, strategic leader on our campus who has spearheaded an era of progress and partnership within our stellar Athletics programs," said Jacksonville University President Tim Cost. "His extraordinary work throughout the past six years has generated a momentum you can feel across campus, positioning our university to attract bright, talented student-athletes from all over the world. I'm excited to see how high we climb over the next five years."
 
Since assuming AD duties, he has overseen significant growth at JU, in performance on the field, new and improved facilities, excelling in the classroom and development of the department as a whole. Teams have won conference championships in baseball, men's lacrosse, men's soccer, women's lacrosse, women's rowing and track and field under his guidance, with additional athletes advancing to compete in NCAA Division I Championships in men's golf, track and field and men's rowing.
 
"It's exciting to watch our Dolphins dominate on the court, on the field, on the water and in the classroom," said Jamie Shelton, Chairman of the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees. "Alex has done a tremendous job of strengthening the programs by keeping the focus on the individual student-athletes. When I meet these students, it's clear they are developing into hard-working, determined leaders who will succeed in every area of their lives."
 
Ricker-Gilbert quickly made his stamp with transformational head coaching hires, bringing recently re-signed men's lacrosse head man John Galloway into the fold and elevating longtime assistant and former player Chris Hayes to the head spot with the baseball program in his first few months in the role. He has also added Jordan Mincy, who recently oversaw one of the biggest year-over-year turnarounds in the country in men's basketball and received the Joe B. Hall Award for the nation's top first-year head coach, to the stable of successful coaches at JU. In the last six years, Galloway has been named Southern Conference Coach of the Year twice, including this past season, while Hayes, Mindy McCord with women's lacrosse and Ron Grigg with track and field have all captured ASUN Conference Coach of the Year honors. Mike Lane has been recognized by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as Coach of the Year in women's rowing as well.  
 
Beyond Jacksonville University, he serves as a key voice on the Division I Council, helping guide and shape policies and perspectives that impact student-athletes around the country during one of the most challenging periods in collegiate athletics. He was originally appointed to the Council in July 2017, and he has served as the Chair of the Legislative Committee since July 2021, where his role is to provide leadership to that particular subcommittee of the D-I Council, whose primary responsibility is to review and make recommendations to the Council regarding the merits of proposals developed through the shared governance process (conferences and Council Committees).
 
Consistent with his commitment to shape the future of college athletics, continual changes have been made at JU to improve the support and benefits for the student-athlete experience. Multimillion-dollar investments have been made to improve physical and mental wellness and training, academic support, nutrition, coaching and more.
 
Ricker-Gilbert, who earned his Masters of Business Administration from JU in 2019, has overseen consistent academic growth, with the department continually setting records in the classroom, most recently recording the highest semester GPA in JU Athletics history with a 3.38 in the spring of 2022. Seventeen of the department's programs recorded a 3.0 GPA or higher in the spring, and a record 12 teams earned a 3.33 or better. 
 
Early in his tenure, he helped oversee the defining of a set of core values for the department, to help shape and guide JU Athletics in everything that it does for years to come. In the summer of 2017, the five core values (Foster Growth, Put Others First, A Part of the Whole, Be Original and Exceed Expectations) were implemented. In the summer of 2018, a new athletics branding was unveiled, with the new logos and wordmarks achieving high praise and recognition as one of the top new logos in the country that year. That external presence has extended to physical growth on campus thanks to a refocused engagement with alumni and donors. The new Basketball Performance Center and Rock Lacrosse Center were both built over the last four years, and significant renovations have been made the Athletics Fieldhouse, Swisher Gymnasium, John Sessions Stadium and Rock Stadium in that same stretch.
 
Transformational major gifts have fueled growth within the department. Under Ricker-Gilbert's leadership, athletics has seen record-breaking numbers in engagement and fundraising efforts. In addition to the capital fundraising success, with the aid of the Dolphin Dash annual giving campaign, JU Athletics has increased its donor participation by over 600 percent.
 
He has established key partnerships that enhance the department's presence in both the local community and on a national level, including a new deal with Nike as the official apparel of the Dolphins, Baron Rings, Academy buses, an expansion of the relationship with 1010XL Jax Sports Radio, the flagship station of JU Athletics since 2007, and Baptist Health, the most-preferred healthcare provider in the Jacksonville area as the official healthcare provider of JU Athletics. Due to his role as a Senior Vice President within the President's Cabinet, he played a key role in the brokering of campus-wide partnerships with W.B. Mason and Pepsi Co.