Richard J. Ensor was named the third Commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in August 1988. In the 16 years since his appointment, Ensor has provided continued leadership to the conference in a period of transition and growth. Ensor?™s first major task was to secure a stable membership base for the MAAC. In October, 1988 he was instrumental in adding four new schools to the MAAC - Canisius College, Loyola College, Niagara University, and Siena College, and in 1997-98 Rider University and Marist College joined the league. The reconstituted conference is a homogenous association of 10 private institutions of similar size, which are committed to student-athlete excellence both on the playing fields and in the classroom.
Ensor has also been instrumental in the expansion of MAAC sports offerings. In 1992 the MAAC added women?™s soccer, in 1996 men?™s lacrosse, and in 1997 women?™s lacrosse, and men?™s and women?™s indoor track, men?™s ice hockey and rowing. In 1998, the MAAC added outdoor track and field and women?™s golf, and in 2002-03 it added women?™s water polo. The league currently sponsors 25 sports and is awarded automatic or play-in bids to 11 NCAA championships. (baseball, softball, tennis (m&w), golf, basketball (m&w), outdoor track (m&w), lacrosse (m&w), soccer (m&w) water polo (w) and volleyball (w).) Additionally, MAAC men?™s and women?™s cross country have access to the NCAA championship through a regional qualifier race that the MAAC hosts every other year. Over half the MAAC sponsored sports now have direct access to NCAA Championships for the first time in the history of the conference. (Up from 13 sports and two automatic bids in 1988.)
To award its fans, arena partners and membership, the MAAC during Ensor?™s tenure has been very aggressive in seeking out opportunities to host NCAA Championships in various sports. With member schools it has served as a co-host of the 1995, 2000 & 2004 NCAA Men?™s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds at the Pepsi Arena and the HSBC Arena (again the host for the 2007 1st & 2nd rounds), respectively, and the 2003 NCAA Men?™s Basketball East Regional at the Albany, NY arena and the 2003 NCAA Men?™s Frozen Four at the Buffalo venue. Additionally, the MAAC co-hosted the 1998, 2000, 2003 & 2004 NCAA Northeast Cross Country Regional at Van Cortlandt Park - Bronx, NY. In 2002, the MAAC was a co-host of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship at the Pepsi Arena. All the NCAA events the MAAC has hosted with its arena partners have been sellouts. In 2006 the MAAC will co-host for the first time the NCAA Women?™s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.
Ensor, who spearheads the league?™s marketing efforts, has sought to tie the conference?™s strong academic image into its marketing campaign. The MAAC has carved a well-earned niche as an athletic conference that balances quality academics and athletics. The marketing efforts have been timely, as it has highlighted the conference?™s continued rise in the basketball standings. Ensor has aggressively pushed the MAAC into internet-based marketing through its award winning web page, www.maacsports.com, and other technology driven initiatives.
Under Ensor?™s direction, the MAAC has concentrated efforts to showcase its member institutions in its annual men?™s and women?™s basketball tournament. Since 1990 with the support of the MAAC Council of Presidents and the league?™s athletic administrators and coaches the MAAC has held its premier event in state of the art playing facilities such as the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY, the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY and the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. In 2004 the MAAC announced that the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT would host the 2007 championship adding it to the list of prestigious buildings that have hosted the event. The 2005 championship was hosted in Buffalo and the 2006, 2008 and 2010 events will be at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY.
In 1998 the MAAC under Ensor?™s direction began a new marketing and championship initiative when it entered into a multi-year agreement with Disney Sports Attractions to host on a rotating basis at the Orlando, Fla. Facility the conference?™s volleyball, men?™s soccer, men?™s & women?™s cross country and women?™s soccer championships. In 2000 the MAAC began holding its annual men?™s and women?™s golf championship at Disney. The current MAAC agreement with Disney runs through 2006.
A 1975 graduate of Saint Peter?™s College, Ensor was named Assistant Director of the Recreation Life Center at his alma mater shortly after graduation, a position he held until 1978. He was then named Assistant Athletic Director at St. Louis University before returning to Saint Peter?™s a year later. This time, Ensor held the position of Sports Information Director, with a number of publications during his three-year tenure, earning honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. In 1982, Ensor decided to return to school and earned his Master?™s degree in sports management with honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. An attorney, Ensor graduated from Seton Hall University?™s School of Law in 1987 and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in June of that year. Ensor occasionally teaches a course on sports law at Seton Hall Law School. Ensor was named Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing and Promotions at Seton Hall in 1985, before returning to Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in the Sport Management Department, where his concentration was on sports marketing and sports law.
Ensor is a member of many professional associations, including the American Bar Association. In addition, Ensor is a member of sport-related associations such as the Sports Lawyers Association, the New Jersey Bar Association Sports Law Committee, the American Bar Association, Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, NACDA and the CAANJ. He has published in the areas of Sport Law, and Sport Marketing. In 1994 Ensor served as chair of the New Jersey Bar Association Sport Law Committee.
In 1999, Ensor began a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Management Council, a segment of the new national governing system for the intercollegiate sports association. He currently chair?™s the Council?™s Governance subcommittee. Ensor had previously served on the old NCAA Council and in January 1996, he served as Chair of the Division I-AA NCAA Convention/Business Session. In 1997 he began a two-year term on the NCAA Division I Championships Cabinet where he chaired the exempted events sub committee. Ensor has also served on the NCAA Division IAA Governance Committee and on NCAA committees dealing with playing season exemptions, athletic certification, the regulatory culture of the NCAA, governance restructuring and antitrust issues. A member of the Collegiate Commissioner?™s Association, Ensor was appointed in 1996 and 2003 to a one-year terms as the chair of the IAA commissioners. From 1999-2003 he was served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Ice Hockey Collegiate Commissioners Association.
In 2001 Ensor was named by the American Football Foundation as its Commissioner of the Year and in 1999 he was presented a Distinguished Service Award form the Metropolitan Basketball Writers and in 1998 was inducted into the Saint Peter?™s College Hall of Fame. In 1996, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Sport Management Program named Ensor as the recipient of the VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 1989, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities named Ensor as one of the ?Leaders of Service? in its Bicentennial Series publication. In 1993, Ensor was honored by NACWA as a ?Good Guy? for his efforts in regards to gender equity.
Ensor and his wife Deirdre, who is a Registered Nurse, are the parents of Kaitlin, Brendan, Kiernan, and Colleen. They reside in Lanoka Harbor, NJ.
