Lanctot Rejoins Chippewas as Associate AD
8/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
MOUNT PLEASANT Central Michigan University Athletics Director Dave Heeke has announced the hiring of Jay Lanctot as associate athletics director in charge of development.
“We welcome Jay back to the CMU family,” Heeke said. “Jay will be a key component as we look to grow the overall fundraising efforts of our intercollegiate athletics department. Jay’s familiarity with our program and his recent strong success in the private business sector are a perfect match for us.”
Lanctot began at CMU in 1984 and served many roles before heading into private business in 2001.
He started in Mount Pleasant as an assistant sports information director (1984-86) before moving on to Chippewa Club director (1986-88). Jay then spent 13 years as an associate athletics director (1988-2001) in charge of facilities, event management and sports camps.
Highlights from his tenure at CMU included doubling Chippewa Club revenues over the course of a year, coordinating the $30 million expansion of Kelly/Shorts Stadium and the construction of the IAC, doubling sport camp enrollment over a six-year span and efficiently managing numerous conference championship events.
Lanctot left the college atmosphere to join Varsity Gold as an independent sales representative for five years. He was responsible for a new territory covering Northeast Michigan and he was named the company’s national Rookie of the Year, along with the top rookie sales producer in the company’s 14-year history. He reached the highest commission level all five years with the company and earned a top 20 national ranking despite a small population base. Upon his departure, Varsity Gold presented Jay with its Top Experienced Salesman Excellence Award.
Lanctot earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Michigan State in 1979 and master’s degree in educational administration from CMU in 1991.
Jay and his wife, Carol, reside in Mount Pleasant. Their daughters are both current college athletes. Ali is a sophomore swimmer at Hillsdale College while Olivia is a freshman soccer player at Ferris State.