STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook University Athletics Department has announced that Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron has signed a contract extension through June 30, 2025.  
 
"I'm incredibly grateful for the support of President McInnis and appreciate her trust in me to lead our department into the future. As I reflect upon the past nine years, I am very proud of our achievements and the student-athletes, coaches and staff who have contributed to our success. In recent years we have celebrated many 'firsts' as a department while strategically navigating the rapidly evolving Division I landscape. We will continue to pursue history with relentless purpose while always prioritizing the academic and athletic success of our student-athletes. This is a momentous time for Stony Brook Athletics as we enter our second year in the CAA, and I am beyond excited about our trajectory and everything that the future holds," said Heilbron.
 
Heilbron enters his 10th academic year at the helm of Stony Brook Athletics and has led the department to historic levels of success. The Seawolves have claimed 24 conference championships since his appointment ahead of the 2014-15 academic year.

After 20 years as a standout member of the America East, he guided Stony Brook into the CAA as a full-time member. During the Seawolves' first season in their new conference, the men's cross country team won the department's first-ever CAA Championship in the fall and women's lacrosse followed up with a conference title of its own in the spring.
 
Under Heilbron's leadership, the program claimed its first-ever conference Commissioner's Cup in 2018-19 when it was one of three Division I programs to achieve at least 22 wins in men's and women's basketball, seven wins in football, 30 wins in baseball and softball, and 20 wins in volleyball.
 
On the hardwood, the men's basketball program cut down the nets for the first time in program history in 2015-16 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The women's basketball team won back-to-back conference championships and notched a bid into the 2021 NCAA Tournament, its first in program history.
 
As a member of the CAA Football league, Stony Brook earned a pair of NCAA FCS Playoff berths in 2017 and 2018, respectively. In 2017, the team posted a 10-3 record and defeated Lehigh in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. 
 
The Seawolves' women's lacrosse program has become a national power and won eight conference Championships with Heilbron at the helm of the department. In 2018, Stony Brook earned a No. 1 overall ranking in all major lacrosse polls for the majority of the season, its first No. 1 ranking in program history. The program has advanced to four NCAA Tournament quarterfinals since 2017.
 
Fundraising success has played a critical role in the department's growth. Heilbron secured the largest gift in Stony Brook Athletics' history, a $5 million contribution from Glenn and Eva Dubin, toward the construction of the Dubin Family Indoor Training Center which opened its doors in 2020. The Dubin gift led to an additional $6 million in financial support for the project.
 
In August of 2022, Stony Brook Athletics received a $3 million gift from the Kehoe Family Foundation to support comprehensive excellence within the Department of Athletics. This past March, the department secured an anonymous $2.5 million matching gift to revitalize the baseball and softball complex.
 
Other major facility upgrades that have taken place under Heilbron's leadership include the 2,000-seat expansion at LaValle Stadium as well as the current installation of new videoboards, and the $13 million renovation of the University Pool. Numerous locker room and office renovations have also been completed.
 
Success has also taken place in the classroom. Over his tenure the cumulative GPA for student-athletes rose from 3.08 in 2014-15 to 3.20 in 2022-23. This past year the softball and tennis teams recorded perfect APR scores and 10 programs scored above 980.
 
Heilbron's focus on transforming the life of each student-athlete has led to several new initiatives, including the hiring of the department's first full-time staff member dedicated to life skills as well as a full-time mental health counselor who works exclusively with student-athletes. Student-athlete welfare has also been at the center of innovative programs in performance nutrition, data science and sports medicine.
 
About Stony Brook Athletics:
Stony Brook University's Athletics Department sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that compete at the NCAA Division I level. Their world-class facilities include the 12,300-seat Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, and a sports complex housing the 4,000-seat Island Federal Arena, which opened in the Fall of 2014. All of Stony Brook's men's and women's programs offer athletic scholarships. For more information about the Stony Brook Seawolves, visit stonybrookathletics.com.