Dec. 13, 2005
ORLANDO - UCF Deputy Athletics Director William J. Weidner announced the hiring of Joe Simon as assistant athletics director for facilities and operations Tuesday. Simon's appointment is effective immediately.
"We are pleased to announce the naming of Joe Simon as our assistant athletics director for facilities and operations at UCF," said Weidner. "Joe brings a well-rounded background in facility operations and event management to UCF. His specific experience as an Associate Athletics Director at UNC-Wilmington will serve him well in his new post. On behalf of our entire athletics program and the University of Central Florida, we welcome Joe, his wife Amy and their son Dean as the newest members of the Golden Knight Family!"
Simon comes to UCF after four years experience at UNC-Wilmington where he served as an assistant director of facilities & event management. In July, he was promoted to associate athletics director for internal operations.
At UNC-Wilmington, Simon oversaw all construction and renovation projects for the athletics department, including the $1.1 million Nixon Annex and softball complex and the $2.2 million sports medicine facility. He also directed the day-to-day supervision and maintenance of athletic facilities and event management for all 19 sports.
Prior to his time at UNC-Wilmington, Simon was the travel coordinator and assistant ticket manager at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He was responsible for the development and tracking of travel budgets for all varsity teams, while also supervising and scheduling event staff for various events.
Simon's first stint at UNC-Wilmington was from July 1999-May 2000. During that year, he served as the ticket manager/database administrator. Simon's duties included fundraising reports and serving as the contact for the volunteer network of individuals that raised funds for UNCW Seahawk Club's annual campaign.
Simon earned his master's degree in sports administration at the University of Tennessee in May, 1999. During graduate school he worked as a ticket office customer service representative, processing season ticket holder orders for a 102,000-seat football stadium and a 25,000-seat basketball arena.
In May 1997, Simon earned his bachelor's degree in history at the University of North Carolina. As a student he served as co-president for student ticket distribution. In that role, Simon supervised a staff of student volunteers which coordinated the distribution of all group and individual student tickets for home football games. He also worked with the athletics association to increase student attendance at UNC Olympic sports.
"I am thrilled to join the UCF team," said Simon. "UCF is an exciting place to be with all of the capital facility projects that are taking place now as well as all of the projects that are planned for the future."
Simon and wife Amy have an eight-month-old baby named Dean.