John Brian Swarbrick Jr. (born March 19, 1954) is the former

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. His appointment was announced in July 2008, replacing Kevin White, who resigned in June 2008 to take the same position at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Swarbrick served until 2024, when he was replaced by

Pete Bevacqua Peter Paul Bevacqua (born 1971) is an American sports and media executive who is the athletic director at the University of Notre Dame. He previously served as president and chairman of NBC Sports between 2018 and 2023. Before joining NBC Sport ...

Biography

Swarbrick was born March 19, 1954, in

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the son of John Brian and Mary Catharine (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Comey) Swarbrick. He earned an undergraduate degree ''(

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

)'' in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from Notre Dame in 1976 and a J.D. degree from

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in 1980. He practiced law for 28 years and was a partner in the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

Baker & Daniels Baker & Daniels LLP is a predecessor to the firm Faegre Baker Daniels LLP (now Faegre Drinker), which resulted after the firm merged in 2012 with Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson. Baker & Daniels counseled clients in transactional, regulatory ...

representing USA gymnastics as general counsel, immediately prior to accepting his position at Notre Dame. From 1992 until 2001, he also served as chairman of the Indiana Sports Corp., during which time he helped convince the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

to relocate its headquarters to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Swarbrick has never served as a sports agent, however, he did serve as counsel to Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton and various professional sports teams. Swarbrick was previously considered for athletic director positions at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Ohio State University, and Arizona State University In 2007, he was considered for the position of commissioner of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

, and in 2002 he was a finalist for the position of NCAA president, which went to

Myles Brand Myles Neal Brand (May 17, 1942 – September 16, 2009) was a philosopher and university administrator who served as the 14th president of the University of Oregon, the 16th president of Indiana University, and the fourth president of the Nation ...

. He was the vice-president of the team that successfully bid to host

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

in 2012 in Indianapolis. From 2000 to 2002, Swarbrick was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of LMiV, an internet firm funded partially by

Emmis Communications Emmis Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for "Truth" (''Emet'') was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR ...

. Swarbrick has been a member of the Indiana bar since 1980 and is also admitted to practice in the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and the

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Ill ...

. In June 2023, Notre Dame president Fr. John I. Jenkins announced that Swarbrick would be replaced as athletic director by

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

chair

in early 2024. Bevacqua served as a special assistant to the president for athletics before officially taking over on March 25.

Personal

Swarbrick is married to Kimberly, and they have four children: Kate, Connor, Cal, and Christopher.

References

External links

Notre Dame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swarbrick, Jack 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Yonkers, New York Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletic directors University of Notre Dame alumni Indiana lawyers