College of St. Joseph has named Jeff Brown as the new Athletic Director. Brown, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., comes to CSJ from Albany Academy, where he served as the principal for the elementary school for the past seven years.
Brown has dedicated the majority of his career to education, but another passion is athletics. Now, he has the opportunity to merge the two.
“It has always been a goal of mine to get into higher education,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to use my academic background to help student-athletes. It’s a perfect fit.”
Brown has served as assistant coach for Columbia – Greene Community College, Schenectady County Community College and Albany Academy. He has also coached double-A professional baseball and junior varsity basketball at Schalmont High School in Schenectady.
He also has years of experience on the field as a player for St. John’s University. His abilities earned him a spot with the Houston Astros in the 75th round of the 1990 MLB Amateur Draft. Two years later, Brown was picked up by the Detroit Tigers in the 33rd round of the MLB Amateur Draft. He was also an Olympic nominee that year. However, an elbow injury ended his professional baseball career.
Now, he’s using what he learned as both a player and principal in his new role, which he officially began June 1. He has hopes to expand the college’s athletic offerings in the coming years, while adding more competitive teams to the schedule.
“The general goal is to maintain and expand on the success we’ve already had, and expand the offerings available to our student-athletes,” he said.
Brown replaces Interim Athletic Director Bob Godlewski, who continues to serve as director of public safety and head baseball coach. Godlewski oversaw CSJ athletics during an incredible run of success that saw eight trips to the USCAA national tournament across all of the college’s athletic teams and national championships in women’s basketball and baseball.
Brown holds a Master of Science in Elementary Education from The College of Saint Rose and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from St. John’s University.
CSJ offers varsity-level sports in soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball.