ANNVILLE, Pa. (Conference News) – Alvernia University Director of Athletics and Recreation, Bill Stiles, was named the 2021 recipient of the MAC Lou Sorrentino Award, as announced by the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) on Wednesday.
 
Established in 2012, the MAC Lou Sorrentino Award is presented to the MAC athletics administrator who has had a sustained and influential role in conference and national affairs and embodies the NCAA Division III philosophy. Lou Sorrentino was a long-time athletics administrator at Lebanon Valley College. Sorrentino was a student-athlete at Lebanon Valley before going on to become a coach and then an athletic director for nearly 60 years. He served at Lebanon Valley from 1950 until his passing in November of 2010.
 
Stiles, who became Alvernia’s Director of Athletics and Recreation in June of 2009, is completing his 12th year of leadership at Alvernia. Stiles oversees an athletics department that includes 30 NCAA athletics programs, as well as three club programs. 
 
Alvernia Athletics has seen tremendous growth under the leadership of Stiles. Since 2009, Alvernia has added 13 NCAA programs to its athletic offerings, including most recently, men’s volleyball, football, women’s ice hockey and men’s wrestling. Alvernia will also begin competing in esports, men’s ice hockey (NCAA) and women’s wrestling over the next two years. Under Stiles’ tenure, Alvernia’s student-athlete population has grown from 280 in 2008-09 to over 500 in 2020-21.
 
In addition to the growth of Alvernia’s athletic offerings, Stiles has also managed nearly $40 million in new construction, renovations, and upgrades to Alvernia’s various athletics and recreation facilities.  Most recently, Stiles oversaw additions to Alvernia’s turf field area that saw the addition of stadium seating for 1,200, a press box, president’s suite and an annex locker room that provides locker room space to football, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and visiting teams. 
 
The largest and most ambitious construction project under Stiles’ tenure was the construction of the Tom and Helen Flynn Complex - a 100,000 square foot dual athletic and academic building that opened in the fall of 2019. The Flynn Plex houses a fully compliant indoor track, four multi-purpose courts, three baseball/softball batting tunnels, a varsity weight room, and four locker rooms. The Flynn Plex is also the home of Alvernia’s Doctorate of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training programs, as well as additional academic space.
 
Stiles has also served on various University Committees outside of athletics over his time at Alvernia and was an integral member of Alvernia’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response team that was crucial in keeping Alvernia an in-person institution during the 2020-21 academic year.
 
“Bill’s contribution and leadership, especially this year through COVID, as we’ve gone through a myriad of MAC decisions…and all the things we’ve had to navigate, as well as his key leadership role with the NCAA, demonstrates his capability set and what he can do for students and the conference,” said Alvernia President John Loyack. “He leads not just Alvernia, but the conference and NCAA. Bill is the poster child for [being a contributor to your university, the conference and NCAA].”
 
In addition to his leadership at Alvernia, Stiles is heavily involved in service to the NCAA. From 2011-2015 Stiles served on the NCAA Division III Baseball Committee. Then, from 2016 - January of 2020, Stiles chaired the NCAA Division III Championships Committee. In January of 2021, Stiles was named to the NCAA Division III Management Council. The Management Council is the highest-level NCAA committee that an athletic director can serve on and reports directly to the Presidents Council. Management Council handles the implementation of policies adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors and Division III Presidents Council. They also sponsor legislative proposals, make interpretations of Division III bylaws, and may also handle resolutions of issues from other NCAA committees and working groups. Stiles is one of 19 members of Management Council and will serve on the Council through January of 2025.
 
“Knowing Lou, he was a champion for student-athletes and the student-athlete experience, [as well as] for coaches, and developing young coaches and being a mentor to seasoned coaches,” said Dr. John McCloskey, Alvernia Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff. “Bill deserves this award because he is exactly Lou Sorrentino when it comes to that… he models what Lou was and what Lou did. I couldn’t think of a better person to receive this award.”
 
Prior to his time at Alvernia, Stiles was the Director of Athletics at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia from 2004-2009. While at Chestnut Hill, Stiles managed the department’s transition from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II using an accelerated hybrid process. Prior Chestnut Hill, Stiles had successful stints as Assistant Athletic Director at Chowan (N.C.) University from 1998-1999, and as Assistant Athletic Director and Assistant Baseball coach at Ursinus College from 1999-2004.
 
A 1996 graduate of Ursinus College, Stiles was an All-Centennial Conference baseball student-athlete while earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication. He went on to earn a Master’s of Education - Sport Management from Temple University in 1998. During his time at Temple, Stiles served as the Graduate Assistant for the Athletic Department.