Former JMU AD Jeff Bourne Inducted into NACDA Hall of Fame

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced the Association's Hall of Fame Class of 2026 with longtime James Madison Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne among the eight inductees comprising the Class of 2026.

The full list of eight inductees includes: Al Bean, University of Southern Maine; Jeff Bourne, James Madison University; Peggy Davis, Virginia State University; Earl Edwards, UC San Diego; John Jackson, Dean College; John Parry, Brown University; Fran Reidy, Saint Leo University; and Kulwant Singh, De Anza College. The group of deserving individuals will be honored in conjunction with the 61st Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., at the beginning of the Association-Wide Featured Session on Monday, June 8, starting at 4 p.m.

Following a 25-year run (1999-2024) leading James Madison University's (JMU) intercollegiate athletics program, Jeff Bourne retired as director of athletics in the spring of 2024. At the time of his retirement, he was the seventh-longest serving Division I athletics director in the country at one school.

Saving the best for last, Bourne's final year in 2023-2024 coincided with the institution's final year of reclassification to the FBS level. JMU finished 77th in the LEARFIELD Director's Cup, best in the Sun Belt and third among all "Group of Five" institutions. A record-tying 10 of JMU's 18 sport programs qualified for NCAA postseason competition, with football qualifying for its first FBS bowl game. Key achievements in his final year included: two Sun Belt Championships (swimming and diving, men's basketball), 14 All-Americans, first FBS bowl game in JMU history, second round of men's basketball NCAA Championship (round of 32), men's soccer round of 16, baseball regional runner-up (round of 32), second round in lacrosse and NCAA appearances in women's soccer and volleyball. Cross country competed in the NCAA regional meet, while individuals represented women's golf and swimming and diving. JMU also hosted ESPN's College GameDay for the third time, all during Bourne's tenure, with record-breaking attendance.

Bourne orchestrated JMU's rise from a diverse regional Division I athletics program to a profile firmly established as one of the nation's top departments for broad-based success, national achievement, academic excellence, student-athlete support and cultural strength. Over the course of Bourne's tenure, James Madison blossomed as one of the Colonial Athletic Association's (CAA) charter members with success across all 18 sport programs. As the department's portfolio spread wider, Bourne worked to steer the Dukes into FBS football and membership in the Sun Belt Conference in July 2022.

Bourne began his tenure as just the third full-time athletics director in school history on July 15, 1999, and months later, JMU captured its first Division I football conference championship. The Dukes proceeded to reach the playoffs in 14 of 23 FCS seasons under Bourne.

In 2016, Bourne assumed the leadership role among the CAA's council of athletics directors and also previously served as a member of the NCAA FCS Championship Selection Committee from 2010-13, chairing the Committee his last year. In May 2018, he was honored as one of five finalists nationwide for the Sports Business Journal Athletics Director of the Year Award. Bourne was recognized as a NACDA Athletics Director of the Year (ADOY) in 2016-17 and 2023-24. On April 9, 2022, he was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Bridgewater College.

Almost immediately upon his arrival, facilities took center stage. JMU opened the Plecker Athletic Performance Center (2005), expanded Bridgeforth Stadium (2011) to 25,000 seats, constructed a short-game golf practice facility (2011), opened Veterans Memorial Park for baseball and softball (2010), opened Sentara Park for soccer, lacrosse and track and field (2012), added the JMU Athletics Training Center at Sentara Park for weather-protected all-sport training (2018), built the East Campus Tennis Facility for indoor training (2018), unveiled the Atlantic Union Bank Center for basketball (2020) and renovated the JMU Convocation Center to meet the needs of eight sport programs (2023).

A Salem, Virginia native, Bourne graduated from Bridgewater College with a degree in business administration and accounting in 1981. He completed his master's degree in education and sports management at Virginia Tech in 1994 and is also a 1994 graduate of the Sports Management Institute (SMI) Executive Program.

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