Brown Named Senior Associate Athletic Director for Athletics Philanthropy
2/23/2026 4:30:00 PM | The Golden Flashes Club
KENT, Ohio — Kent State University has named TJ Brown as its new senior associate athletic director for athletics philanthropy, bringing more than a decade of Division I experience in fundraising, revenue generation and sport administration to Kent State Intercollegiate Athletics and the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement.
Brown will lead The Golden Flashes Club major gift fundraising efforts within the recently restructured athletics philanthropy team, which reports to the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, while retaining a central role in the athletics department.
"Our reorganized athletics philanthropy team is poised to take Kent State Athletics to higher levels of success through greater alignment than ever between athletics and philanthropy and alumni engagement," said Valoree Vargo, vice president of philanthropy and alumni engagement and CEO, KSU Foundation. "TJ has the right experience, mentality and leadership ability to ensure that donors and fans are best connected to Kent State in a way that allows them to support the programs that mean the most to them."
Brown joins Kent State from Robert Morris University, where he most recently served as senior associate athletic director and chief revenue officer. In that role, he led all athletic revenue units, including development, corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, marketing/fan experience and NIL. He helped RMU surpass fiscal year goals with $2.3 million in fundraising, $500,000 in sponsorships and $350,000 in ticket sales for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Vice President and Director of Athletics Randale Richmond said, "TJ is the right leader at the right time to ensure Kent State Athletics and our student-athletes can do more than maintain our standing in the MAC but also rise to the next level of success in competition and the classroom. Private philanthropy and corporate support are mission-critical at this time in intercollegiate athletics, and TJ will be a great point of connection for donors and Golden Flash athletics."
He played a key role in advancing NIL opportunities, securing more than $500,000 through RMU's 2025 March Madness campaign. In more than 12 years at RMU, Brown moved through several leadership roles, starting as an athletic sponsorship and fundraising graduate assistant and being promoted five times, contributing to more than $15 million in philanthropic support for RMU Athletics. He helped guide the university's $113.73 million "Ready to Rise" campaign, directed key sport-specific and facility fundraising initiatives, and secured the largest documented planned gift in RMU Athletics history.
Brown began his career in professional sports with ticket and corporate sales roles for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Power, earning multiple top-performance distinctions.
A two-time RMU graduate, Brown earned bachelor's degrees in finance and sport management, graduating cum laude, and his MBA in 2015.
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