FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Director of Athletics Gene Doris received the Distinguished Faculty/Administrator Award at the 26th annual Fairfield Awards Dinner. The event was held at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City.
The Fairfield Awards Dinner, "Celebrating a Tradition of Opportunity," benefits the Fairfield University Multicultural Scholarship Fund and is Fairfield University's major fundraising event. The Fairfield Awards Dinner also recognized alumni, faculty, and staff for the highest level of professional achievement, outstanding leadership, academic excellence, and meritorious service.
Under Doris' guidance, Fairfield Athletics has flourished. The University has seen the Stags win the overall Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Commissioner's Cup four times; the men have earned the Cup three times, and the women's teams have won an impressive seven times.
Over the years, Doris has garnered multiple awards for his skills as an athletics director. In 2004, he received the Constituent Supporter of the Year Award from the Coastal Fairfield County Convention and Visitors Bureau for his role in bringing the NCAA Women's Basketball First and Second rounds to the Webster Bank Arena. Doris was also instrumental in securing the 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Regional, and the 2007 and 2011 MAAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. Fairfield also hosted the 2008 and 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament First and Second rounds and co-hosted the 2009, 2011, and 2012 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey East Regional. Fairfield and the MAAC hosted the 2013 NCAA Women's Basketball Regional.
In 2010, he received the Division I Northeast Athletic Director of the Year Award.
Off-campus, Doris served a term as president of the ECAC, the nation's largest athletic conference, and has sat on the Division I-AA Athletic Directors Football Committee. He also serves on both regional and national committees, as well as several MAAC committees. Doris is also an adjunct faculty member at Manhattanville College.
Prior to Fairfield, Doris was the athletics director at Marist College for five years, during which time the number of intercollegiate athletic teams grew from 14 to 20. Before that, he was associate athletics director at Fordham University, as well as assistant basketball coach under Richard “Digger” Phelps.
He coached both basketball and baseball at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., and junior varsity baseball at Archbishop Molloy High School in Jamaica, N.Y. In 2007, Doris was inducted into the Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame for his contribution to the New York City-based league.
