Dear Tulane Community:
I write today to inform you that Troy Dannen, Ben Weiner Director of Athletics, has accepted the athletics director position at the University of Washington. This is bittersweet news, of course, but also a testament to the growing success and stature of Tulane athletics nationwide.
Since arriving at Tulane in 2015, Troy has electrified the Green Wave fan base with success throughout our athletics programs, including the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic victory, the baseball team’s 2023 American Athletic Conference title, the sailing team’s 2022 ICSA Open Dinghy National Championship, and the women’s golf team’s first-ever AAC Championship.
Troy has also overseen a department where student-athletes excel in the classroom and boast a 93 percent graduation rate. Under his tenure, more than 180 student-athletes made the AAC All-Academic Team in 2022-23, and 68 percent achieved 3.0 or higher GPAs.
A member of the university’s senior leadership, Troy has served on the President’s Cabinet and assisted multiple search committees for institutional leadership positions, including hiring 10 of Tulane’s 13 head coaches. He has also spearheaded or assisted with numerous fundraising efforts and capital projects, including securing an endowment gift for sailing, a new sport at Tulane, as well as funding for the department’s “Invest in Excellence” campaign. Troy also oversaw renovations to locker rooms and the Wilson Center sports medicine center as well as the construction of a new dining facility, weight room, and basketball and volleyball locker rooms. In addition, the swimming and diving program received a new home through a major overhaul of the Reily Natatorium.
Besides his role at Tulane, Troy has been a leading national voice in college athletics, serving on the NCAA Constitution Committee and the Transformation Committee for Division I athletics. He is chair of the NCAA Football Competition Committee and an executive committee member of the Football Oversight Committee. He has also chaired the American Athletic Conference Strategic Planning Committee and is a member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Board of Directors. In 2020, Troy established Green Wave Justice for All, to promote equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice within athletics and the community.
We are deeply grateful to Troy for his service to Tulane and wish him every success in all his future endeavors. We will appoint a search committee in the coming days for a new director of athletics.
