The 2012-13 academic year marks the 13th season Marty Scarano has served as the Director of Athletics at the University of New Hampshire. During his tenure, Scarano has heightened national exposure for UNH athletics with academics, facility renovations and programmatic advancement being top priorities. His many accomplishments played a key role in UNH being named one of the Top 20 Athletic Departments in the Country in U.S. News and World Report college athletics rankings.

With a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 89 percent among its student-athletes in 2011-12, UNH ranked third in the America East Conference and fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association. The men’s soccer, women’s cross country/track, gymnastics, women’s ski, and volleyball teams all posted perfect 100 percent GSRs while five additional programs tallied scores of 90 or above. The NCAA honored four Wildcat teams for multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APRs) in the top 10 percent of all teams in its respective sports.  The Wildcat men’s ice hockey team and gymnastics both recorded perfect APRs of 1,000, while the men’s outdoor track & field team tallied 997 points and women’s indoor track & field notched 995. In 2012, the football program garnered its second-consecutive Academic Progress Rate Award for the Colonial Athletic Association. UNH became one of only five FCS programs in the nation to earn the title for a second straight year and the only FCS team in the country to both reach the postseason and capture an APR award in back-to-back seasons.

UNH finished third in the America East Academic Cup for their third consecutive top-three finish, achieving a 3.14 cumulative grade-point average. The Wildcats had the highest number of honorees on the 2011 America East Fall Academic Honor Roll and the highest percentage of student-athletes on the 2011-12 America East Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll. In the fall, 52 student-athletes were named to the America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll for achieving a GPA mark of 3.5 or higher while 76 student-athletes accomplished the feat on the winter/spring honor roll.

Scarano has focused on moving UNH athletics into the collegiate national arena. To accomplish that goal, the University has taken on the task of hosting major NCAA championships. The Wildcat athletic department has played host to highly successful NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Northeast Regionals at the Verizon Wireless Arena (Manchester, N.H.) in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011 and will host again in 2013. UNH has also had the opportunity to host two NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Frozen Fours at the Whittemore Center in 2002 and 2005. In addition, UNH successfully hosted the 2007 NCAA Skiing Championships in Washington Valley as well as the 2005 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Northeast Regional at the Whittemore Center Arena. The women’s hockey team also played in the first outdoor game in the history of NCAA women’s hockey in 2010 at the Sun Life Frozen Fenway game against Northeastern while the men’s squad played in the 2012 Sun Life Frozen Fenway game against Maine. Football also competed in Colonial Clash games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. in 2010 and 2011 against UMass. 

During the Scarano Era, UNH teams have made 40 NCAA post-season appearances and have captured 11 conference titles. Gymnastics has participated in 11 NCAA tournaments, leading all programs over the span. Men’s hockey holds a pair of Hockey East titles and has made 10 trips to the NCAA tournament, a pair of Frozen Four appearances in 2002 and 2003. The football program has qualified for the NCAA FCS postseason for a nation leading eight consecutive seasons, advancing to the quarterfinals six times during the streak. Women’s ice hockey has seen NCAA action five times with two Frozen Four appearances. The squad also captured consecutive Hockey East Championships from 2006-09. The field hockey team captured its second ever America East crown in 2011 en route to their second national tournament appearance under Scarano’s tutelage. Volleyball has made a pair of NCAA appearances after capturing back-to-back conference titles in 2002 and 2003 Women’s lacrosse has too earned a pair of NCAA berths (2004, 2008), one coming after an America East championship victory in 2004. Additionally, 24 coaches have won 63 Coach of the Year awards during Scarano’s tenure, ranging from conference coach of the year to New England and Northeast Regional Coach of the Year honors. Furthermore, head football coach Sean McDonnell garnered the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year by The Sports Network in 2005 after a stellar 11-2 campaign.

There have been over $9 million in capitol improvements since Scarano’s hiring in the summer of 2000. Recently, a new scoreboard was put in at Cowell Stadium while the football locker room received a facelift as part the most recent renovation phase. Changes to the locker room included a new lighting system while a 55-inch flat-screen TV and Fathead-designed murals featuring former players and UNH historical were added to the walls. A memorial of Todd Walker was also added in honor of the former Wildcat wide receiver who suffered an untimely and heroic death in March of 2011. In the summer of 2007, the Cowell Stadium grass field was replaced with a $1 million Field Turf synthetic surface.

As part of a $650,000 renovation project in the summer of 2011, the field turf at Bremner Field was replaced with a new state-of-the-art surface used by many varsity teams and for student recreational activities. In the fall of 2008, the Paul Sweet Oval renovation was completed to include new surfaces, lighting, painting, infrastructure upgrades and the replacement of windows that existed in the original architecture. The total cost of the project exceeded $500,000. Additionally in 2007, a complete renovation of Lundholm Gymnasium was undertaken. The $600,000 overhaul included a new state-of-the-art bleacher system, new scoreboards, competition baskets and other aesthetic enhancements.

In 2007, Scarano was named the All-American Football Foundation Athletic Director of the Year for FCS football in the Northeast region. Scarano was also awarded the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) AD of the Year for the FCS. Scarano has also been an active member in the leadership of UNH’s three major conferences and was the chair of the executive committees for Atlantic 10 football, Hockey East and America East from 2003 to 2007. He also served as chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee in 2005-06 and 2006-07 and is currently on the America East Executive Council. Most recently, Scarano was a member of the Hockey East Restructuring team that successfully recruited Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut to the conference. Outside of athletics, Scarano is in his 10^th year on the Board of Corporators at Canterbury Shaker Village, a non-profit museum located in Canterbury, N.H.

Before arriving at the University of New Hampshire, Scarano held the position of Athletics Director at Colorado College from July 1996 through June 2000. During his tenure, Colorado College was ranked among the top 20 Division III programs in the Sears Cup national standings and produced several All-Americans, all-academic award winners and NCAA post-graduate scholarship recipients. Prior to his stay in Colorado Springs, Scarano worked for 13 years at Colgate University, where he served as assistant director of athletics, director of physical education, associate director, and senior associate director.

Scarano, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a 1978 graduate of Penn State University, where he started his athletic career as assistant ticket manager and the athletics events manager from 1980-83. Scarano holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental History from Colgate. He and his wife, Cydney, have three children, Lyndon, Kyle, a sophomore at UNH, and Corey.