New Athletic Director Named

Josh Looney is the University’s new director of athletics, replacing Kurt McGuffin, director of athletics since 2011, who became director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Looney, who was director of athletics at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, began his duties in August.

Looney served as the associate director of NCAA Division II from 2012 to 2015. He worked for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006 to 2012, which included spending time on Missouri Western’s campus for the team’s summer training camp.

“We are thrilled to be joining the Missouri Western family,” Looney said. “The opportunity to help shape the future vision of Griffon athletics is an honor. I look forward to working with all of our fans and constituents to build an athletic program that is recognized for excellence in the classroom, in competition and within the community.”

As director of athletics at East Stroudsburg, he oversaw 20 NCAA Division II sports. Under his leadership, student athletes had a grade point average of 3.22 last year, the highest in department history, with 40 percent earning Athletic Director’s Honor Roll honors by earning a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher.

He led the athletic department to the school’s highest Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference all-sports trophy finish in 21 years. Annual athletic scholarships awarded increased 22 percent, and the school secured its largest athletics unrestricted cash corporate sponsor.

Looney earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, which is a member of the Missouri Western’s MIAA Conference. He holds an MBA with an emphasis in organizational leadership from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is nearing completion on a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Education from Creighton University in Omaha.

Looney and his wife, Jenna, have one daughter, Parker, age 1½.