AMES, Iowa - Iowa State has turned to Jared Benko to lead its athletics department, with President David Cook naming the Auburn executive deputy athletic director as the university’s next director of athletics.
Benko is set to begin Oct. 30, pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents. He has spent the past two years at Auburn, where he handled day-to-day leadership for a $228 million department and worked across areas including financial strategy, revenue generation, capital projects, name, image and likeness, and revenue sharing.
Cook pointed to the larger significance of the hire in a statement announcing the move.
“Athletics is vital to the strength of our university,” Cook said. “Jared Benko brings the leadership experience and strategic vision to build on our success, support our student-athletes as students first and ensure Iowa State is well positioned for the future of college athletics.”
Benko arrives with more than 20 years in athletics administration. His résumé includes a stint as athletic director at Georgia Southern and time as deputy director of athletics and chief financial officer at Mississippi State University. At Auburn, he also chaired the SEC’s Lead Advisors Committee, where he helped guide the conference through revenue sharing, NIL and governance issues.
For Iowa State, Benko will hold the Jamie and Ellen Pollard Endowed Director of Athletics title and oversee the university’s 18-sport intercollegiate program. His duties will include providing strategic direction, executive leadership and operational oversight, while also serving as an advisor to the president and as an ambassador for Cyclone Athletics across the university, the state of Iowa, the Big 12 Conference and the national athletics community.
Benko said Iowa State already has plenty to work with.
“Iowa State has a strong athletics foundation and I’m excited to serve as the next director of athletics,” Benko said. “Iowa State has competitive momentum, strong fan support and outstanding facilities. For me, this is an opportunity to build on that success while bringing a problem-solving mindset to a period of significant change in college athletics.”
He also laid out the style he plans to bring into the job.
“The passion surrounding Cyclone Athletics and Iowa State University is obvious, and the department has shown that it can compete nationally while operating with discipline and creativity,” Benko added. “My approach is straightforward - be a great teammate, set clear expectations, communicate, listen, make decisions, and hold myself and others accountable.”
Benko’s background includes a strong track record in fundraising and revenue growth. At Georgia Southern, he set four straight fundraising records and secured the three largest gifts in athletic foundation history. At Auburn, he negotiated a 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Playfly that is projected to exceed $230 million, and he helped bring ticketing, premium seating, events, corporate partnerships, philanthropy and NIL opportunities into one revenue strategy.
A Watkinsville, Georgia, native, Benko earned a bachelor of science in sports studies from Georgia in 2005 and a master of public administration in Athens in 2007. He and his wife, Sarah, have two sons, Hudson and Cooper.
Benko will meet with reporters on Monday, Oct. 19. That session is not open to the public, but it will be livestreamed on the athletics website for the university community and Cyclone fans.
Cook’s selection followed a national search and came with input from an advisory committee that included Tim Day, Chris Jorgenson, Larissa Holtmyer Jones, Toyia Younger, Kurt Tjaden, Dan Houston and Lisa Uhl.
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