JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University sports information director IRA THOR (Howell, NJ), who is entering his 12th year overseeing the athletic communications efforts of the Gothic Knight athletics program, has been elected as the new Second Vice President of the Division III Sports Information Directors Association of America (D3SIDA), effective August 1.
Thor will serve an eight-year term on the Board of Directors through 2019, which will include two years as the organization's President (2015-17). He will become the first athletic communications professional from a school located outside the Midwest to hold that office and only the fourth in the organization's history.
Thor will rotate to First Vice President in 2013. He had previously served a two-year position from 2009-11 after being elected as the first-ever D3SIDA representative from Region 1 of the United States.
Originally formed in 2009 as an affiliate of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors Association of America), D3SIDA represents the athletic communication professionals at the more than 400 NCAA Division III institutions. D3SIDA addresses the concerns and interests of the membership and gives Division III sports information directors a voice among the other Division III leadership groups while furthering the mission of CoSIDA.
D3SIDA has worked in conjunction with the NCAA leadership on several major projects in the last two years, including the current NCAA Division III Identity Initiative.
“I am truly honored and humbled to have been selected to this position by my peers in the profession,” Thor said. “It certainly is a career highlight for me and I intend to make meaningful contributions to the overall Division III community during my term on the Board. I have no doubt this will be a rewarding professional experience.”
During Thor's tenure at the University, the NJCU Office of Sports Information has received a number of honors. In 2007, Thor was a national finalist and the NCAA's overall Sports Information Winner of the AVCA Grant Burger Media Award for Division I, II and III men's and women's volleyball coverage. He is a six-time winner of the regional AVCA Grant Burger Media Award and received a 2010 CoSIDA Citation for Excellence in Writing. During the 2010-11 academic year, Thor was inducted into a pair of Halls of Fame—the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Hall of Fame as an administrator, and the Fair Lawn (NJ) High School Athletic Hall of Fame as an athlete on a state championship team.
Since Thor's arrival at the University in 2000, the NJCU Office of Sports Information has chronicled the accomplishments of the University's student-athletes, coaches and teams. NJCU athletes have been featured nationally, including 10 inclusions in the prestigious Sports Illustrated 'Faces in the Crowd', two appearances on ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays, two features on CBS Sports, and a lengthy profile in ESPN The Magazine.
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