BATON ROUGE – The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes recently added James Chiarchiaro to fill the role of Associate Director for Academic Affairs.
“Being appointed as Associate Director for Academic Affairs at LSU is an opportunity for me to be a leader within an elite academic support staff on the biggest stage in college athletics,” Chiarchiaro said. “The responsibilities of this position is to develop LSU student athletes for life after college, as well as cultivating staff to strive for positions of leadership.”
Chiarchiaro comes to LSU with 11 years of experience in an academic environment. He recently served as the Academic Coordinator for the football programs at the University of Arkansas and Syracuse University, respectively. While at Syracuse, he received the BIG EAST’s Football Academic Excellence Award in 2010.
From 2001-07, Chiarchiaro worked for the National Football League’s Junior Player Development and High School Player Development programs.
As part of the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart non-profit organization, Chiarchiaro held the position of regional coordinator in the New York/New Jersey region in 2006 prior to his appointment at Syracuse. He was instrumental in developing 40 urban underprivileged per year to increase their desire to learn, graduate and pursue a collegiate career while performing to their maximum potential in athletics.
“We are extremely excited to have James as member of our team,” Director of Academic Affairs Walt Holliday said. “He brings a wealth of experience and has a passion for helping student athletes prepare for life.”
Chiarchiaro will complete a Master of Science Instructional in Design, Development and Evaluation from Syracuse University later this year. He has obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000.