GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Daniel Wray, Ph.D., has been named Furman University's new director of athletics development, it was announced today by senior associate athletics director and executive director of athletics development Erin Wissing.

"We could not be more excited to welcome Daniel to our team," said Wissing in making the announcement. "Daniel has gained tremendous experience in athletics administration at various levels and has had the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business. We are confident that Daniel will take our annual giving efforts for athletics to the next level and look forward to introducing him to our donor base."

Wray comes to Furman after spending the last year and half at Southern Virginia University, where he served as a director of athletics annual giving and external affairs, and assistant men's basketball coach.

As a member of the executive athletics staff, he successfully designed and implemented the first Athletics Annual Fund in SVU history, achieving goals of 300 members and $30,000 raised.  He cultivated and aided in the solicitations of major gifts for Knight Stadium enhancement totaling over $950,000 and designed and implemented a strategic plan to identify, cultivate, and solicit contributions for the enhancement and restoration of Shriner Field worth approximately $1.25 million.

In addition to playing leading roles in capital project fundraising efforts, he designed and implemented a strategic plan to identify and solicit local and national corporate sponsorships.

Wray's extensive involvement in SVU athletics included leading the department's COVID-19 Response Committee; hiring and supervising the broadcasting staff on the Knights Sports Network online platform; heading up all student-athlete development programs, including leadership training and an alumni membership program; and serving as lead men's assistant basketball coach for the 2019-20 season.

He also served as an adjunct faculty member for the university's sport management internship program and as an instructor.

Wray spent three years (2016-19) as an athletics department intern at The Ohio State University, which he combined with a two-year athletics department internship at Otterbein University.  At Ohio State he generated content for the "What's It Mean to be a Buckeye" initiative used in solicitation mediums and worked with the event management staff for multiple NCAA events, including BIG 10 Conference football games, men's and women's BIG Conference basketball games; 2017 & '18 BIG 10 Swim and Dive Championships; and NCAA Regionals for men's tennis and women's gymnastics. His duties at Otterbein included identifying and securing corporate partnerships, and fundraising for young alumni.  In addition he was charged with designing and implementing the Otterbein Athletics Mentoring Program to assist select student-athletes in their personal and career development.

Wray's tenure in Columbus also included a graduate teaching associate post at Ohio State covering Sport In Contemporary America, Leadership Programming, and the History of College Sport within the Sport Industry, and position as an adjunct faculty member at Columbus State Community College, where he taught English composition.

He also worked as a direct sales representative for The Greater Columbus Sports Commission.

Wray began his collegiate career at the University of Redlands, where he was a member of the 2009 football team.  Following a two-year, full-time service mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto, Canada, he enrolled at Utah State University, where he lettered twice in football and was the recipient of the Whiteside's Scholar-Athlete Award given to members with grade point averages ranking among the top 10 percent in the department.

Wray earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Utah State in 2014 and added a Master of Arts in the same field in 2016 from Boise State University, where he served as an instructor in English to freshmen students.

He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio State in 2019.

His doctoral dissertation was entitled, "Measuring Organizational Effectiveness In Student-Athlete Career Development." Another work, "The Relationship Between Sport Club Activities And University and Member Attachment," was published in Recreation Sports Journal, and his most recent effort, "Utilization And Impact Of Career Services Among Collegiate Student-Athletes" for Journal Of Issues In Intercollegiate Athletics, is in review.

Wray has made a number of academic presentations to the Collegiate Sport Research Institute, North American Society For The Sociology of Sport, North American Society of Sport Management, and N4A Convention.

He holds a number of memberships, including National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) and National Association for Academic Advisors of Athletics (N4A).