Bruce Stewart

Bruce Stewart is Old Dominion’s Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer. A veteran in the industry he enters his 16th year with the university. Stewart is an integral part in ODU’s athletic strategic planning initiatives and is the chair of the Competitive Excellence Committee.Stewart spearheaded the Monarchs’ revival of the football program which has become the model for start-up football programs across the country and helped elevate ODU from FCS to FBS. Stewart is as the primary sport administrator for football, men’s basketball and men’s & women’s tennis, as well as overseeing the functional areas of sports performance, equipment, game operations and capital constructions.

Stewart has guided the Monarch football program from FCS and the Colonial Athletic Association to FBS, Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference. Stewart led the way for the new Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium. The new $70 million dollar stadium renovation was completed in nine months under Stewart’s leadership.

In addition to the new S.B. Ballard Stadium, Stewart has also directed the building of the $17 million L.R. Hill Sports Complex, the state-of-the-art home for ODU’s football program as well as the women’s lacrosse program, and nine-time national champion field hockey program. The Powhatan Sports Complex has attracted much attention as it hosted the US Field Hockey Team’s match-up with international powerhouse Argentina during the summer of 2012 as well as the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship in November of 2012, 2013, 2016. The L.R. Hill Complex completed an expansion in the winter of 2017, adding a brand-new state of the art weight room, new meeting rooms and an updated coaches locker room. In the fall of 2022 the complex received an additional upgrade with an expanded players locker room and nutritional center.

Stewart took over the reigns as the men’s basketball supervisor in 2021 and oversaw the move from Conference USA to the Sun Belt Conference. The men’s basketball team led C-USA in attendance in Stewart’s first season as sport supervisor and also led the Sun Belt in the programs first season in the league.

Other Old Dominion athletic facilities have been added and upgraded during Stewart’s tenure include a new home for the Monarchs’ academic advising program in the Jim Jarrett Athletic Administration Building as well as expanded Strength and Conditioning and Athletic Training Facilities and the construction of the 74,000 square foot Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center and the 9,400 two-story ODU Rowing Center as well as the new sailing pier at the ODU Sailing Center. Stewart and his staff also completed the $8.4 million dollar Mitchum Basketball Practice Facility in early 2018.Upgrades have been made to the Monarchs’ Soccer Complex with brand new coaches’ offices, locker rooms, and meetings spaces, and a new video board, enhanced signage, and addition of “Rally Alley” have helped add to the fan experience at the Bud Metheny Ballpark. Stewart and his staff are now embarking on a new $20 million stadium upgrade for baseball’s Bud Metheny Ballpark that is expected to be completed by the 2025 season.

Under Stewart’s direction, ODU has showcased its facilities and staff in the hosting of numerous events on campus including the Division I NCAA Women’s Basketball First and Second Rounds and Regionals, the CAA Field Hockey Championship, the Conference USA Men’s & Women’s Tennis Championships, and high school championships from the Hampton Roads area.

Stewart joined Old Dominion after a nine-year stint at Coastal Carolina University, in which he served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director. Prior to his promotion, he was the Associate Athletic Director of Finance. He played a key role in helping the Chanticleers add football as a varsity sport at the university as the Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Stewart held numerous other responsibilities in his first four years at Coastal Carolina. During his tenure, he was the administrator for several of the school’s athletic fund-raising events and was an integral part of the game management and promotions for the department. He started his career in intercolloegiate athletics as the director of basketball operations. He also served as an adjunct professor in the Wall College of Business, teaching a business law course.

Stewart attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, earning his bachelor of arts in psychology in 1994. He furthered his educational training at The Ohio State University by completing a J.D./M.A. degree program, a four-year program that combined studies in law with sport management. While completing his law and master’s degree, he was published in The Journal of Sport Management and The Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport. He was a three-sport standout in high school at the Columbus Academy, competing in football, basketball and track.