NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.  – Niagara University has extended the contract of Simon Gray, the university's director of athletics. The five-year extension was announced today by Niagara University president, the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M.
 
"Simon Gray has been an incredible leader on our campus and has demonstrated a clear vision of campus-wide collaboration, community engagement, academic achievement, and athletic excellence for the Niagara University Department of Athletics," said Father Maher. "Simon has placed an emphasis on the student-athlete experience that has put Niagara University at the forefront of addressing and implementing initiatives for the improvement of student-athlete welfare."
 
The Purple Eagles have celebrated success in the field of competition with Gray as the director of athletics. The Purple Eagles baseball team qualified for the MAAC Tournament (2018) for the first time in 12 seasons and the women's tennis team was the runner up in 2015 MAAC Tournament. NU has celebrated individual MAAC champions in swimming and diving – Sydney Kligys (2015), Shane Baxter (2015) & Hayley Tasselmyer (2019) – and four student-athletes (Greg Cullen, Kahlil Dukes, Rylee Hunt, Victoria Rampado) have earned conference player of the year awards. The volleyball program was the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament (2017), the men's basketball program played in the postseason for the first time since 2013 (2018).
 
Gray began a three-year term on the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Executive Committee in July 2018.
 
Under Gray's tenure, academic excellence has been a hallmark for the department – the Purple Eagles have averaged more than over 100 student-athletes on all-academic teams (MAAC/AHA) per season and the most recent overall department GPA was 3.27 including 17 programs with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (for the 2017-18 academic year).  Niagara recorded its highest-ever NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 92 percent which exceeded the national average by six percent and had 11 programs score at or above the national Academic Progress Rate (APR) average in their respective sport in the most recent announcements.
 
"I am extremely excited to continue to lead the Purple Eagles, and proud to represent our campus community and our great student-athletes in every sport" said Gray. "I pledge to continue to develop an environment that allows our student-athletes to compete at the highest levels."
 
Since joining Niagara in 2014, Gray has led the charge for improvements in a number of the university's athletic facilities which benefit both the athletes and the fans of the Purple Eagles. These improvements include major renovations made to Bobo Field, the home of Niagara baseball; the Hall of Fame atrium in the Gallagher Center, the upcoming installation of video displays in the Gallagher Center and Dwyer Arena, and renovations of the Vincent O'Malley Strength & Conditioning Center. 
 
He places a strong focus on academic excellence and adding personnel in the academic support area and is passionate about proactive public relations, working closely with the athletic communications staff on website and video content and social media.
 
Gray and his wife Anne make their home in Youngstown with their three daughters.