UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft announced the addition of Vinnie James and Adam Miller to the department's executive team. James will serve as deputy athletics director for internal operations, while Miller will be the deputy athletics director for external affairs and engagement. Both James and Miller worked under Kraft in similar roles at Boston College.
In addition, Kraft announced the elevation of Dr. Lauren Rhodes to deputy athletics director for student-athlete welfare and development. Lynn Holleran, deputy athletics director for administration, and Scott Sidwell, deputy athletics director for external operations, will also continue with their roles on the executive team.
"I am thrilled to have Vinnie and Adam join me at Penn State," said Kraft. "We have a long history together, dating back to our time at Temple, and work well together to develop conditions for our student-athletes to be successful. Vinnie is a longtime confidant who has a terrific strategic vision and will propel us to the next level, just as he did at our previous institutions. Adam has established himself as one of the best development leaders in the country. His addition to our Penn State staff will allow us to provide our student-athletes with the facilities and resources they need to develop them as the whole person – mind, body, spirit."
In his role as deputy AD for internal operations, James will be responsible for the department's strategic planning and analysis. He will also oversee capital projects, facility and event operations, information technology, Penn State Golf Course operations, and equipment operations.
"I am incredibly honored and excited to join a premier institution and Athletics department in my home state," said James. "I am extremely thankful to Pat Kraft for the opportunity to work under his leadership for an amazing group of student-athletes. I intend to work tirelessly to help our staff provide a world class experience for all 31 programs."
Miller will oversee the Nittany Lion Club's development efforts, as well as ticket sales and services, revenue strategy and new business development. He will also be responsible for the All Sports Museum, facility rentals, data analytics and event parking.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Penn State Athletics," said Miller. "Penn State provides an incredible student-athlete experience with both world class academics and athletics. I look forward to helping continue this tradition of excellence. I'd like to thank Pat Kraft for this exciting opportunity. My family and I can't wait to get to Happy Valley and join the Penn State family."
Vinnie James, Deputy Athletics Director for Internal Operations
James spent the last two years on Kraft's executive team at Boston College, serving as the senior associate athletics director for business and administration. Prior to his time in Chestnut Hill, James served on Kraft's staff for seven years at Temple University.
In his capacity as the senior associate athletics director and chief of staff for the Owls, James was the chief advisor for Kraft on various strategic initiatives and departmental objectives. He worked with Kraft to develop and implement Temple's athletics department strategic plan by establishing, monitoring and reporting on overall and individual goals and objectives. In addition, he oversaw Temple's social media, digital media, creative video, video production and graphic design teams. He also served as the sport administrator for the Owl Football program.
Prior to his time at Temple, James spent two years at La Salle University where he was solely responsible for executing business operations, including monthly budget reports for all sports and departments, and overall budget planning for the department. He also spent one year at Villanova University as an intern in the Director of Athletics' office, providing a wide range of administrative support and serving as an event manager for women's soccer.
The Bristol, Pennsylvania native graduated from Bloomsburg University in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in political science. James was a four-year varsity starter and two-time team captain for the Huskies baseball program. He earned his MBA from Bloomsburg in 2009 while serving as a graduate assistant for the Huskies.
James and his wife, Erica, have a daughter, Emily, and son, Patrick.
Adam Miller, Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs and Engagement
Miller comes to Penn State after spending two years as the senior associate athletics director for development at Boston College. During his time at BC, Miller was instrumental in fundraising more than $84 million to assist in completing 11 capital projects, as well as providing additional scholarship and financial aid support for student-athletes.
Prior to his time at Boston College, Miller served in a similar capacity at Temple where he served on the executive team, which oversaw the university's 150-person institutional advancement staff. The staff raised more than $107 million dollars during the 2020 fiscal year.
An innovative athletics development leader, Miller and his Owl Club team achieved the most successful fundraising year in Temple Athletics history: increasing annual giving by nearly 25%; increasing the number of donors at the top three levels of giving by 58%; and raising close to $300,000 for the athletics department on "Temple Toast" - the university's day of giving. He also served as the American Athletic Conference's representative to the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD).
Miller also spent three years as the associate athletics director for development at Memphis where he helped lead the charge for a development team that raised more than $50 million in two years and completed a $40 million "Time to Shine" capital campaign for athletics.
In his role as the leader of the Tiger Scholarship Fund, Miller guided his team to the most successful fundraising year in the fund's history, raising $15 million in annual gifts over a two-year period. He also created the "Sponsor a Student-Athlete" initiative, which generated #1.3 million, and launched the Tigers' #NextStep initiative, which produced $600,000 in additional gifts from existing donors.
As the associate athletics director for development at Wisconsin-Green Bay from 2014-16, Miller was responsible for the two most successful fundraising years in program history. He oversaw fundraising efforts which helped complete a nearly $5 million outdoor athletics facilities campaign and increased annual giving by 37% to the Phoenix Fund.
Miller started his career at his alma mater, Florida Southern College, serving as the director of development for both the athletics department and Barney Barnett School of Business.
As a baseball student-athlete at Florida Southern, Miller earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in both his undergraduate and graduate studies. He was named the Florida Southern Most Outstanding Scholar Athlete in 2009 and earned the Scholar Athlete Award for baseball in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Miller graduated from Florida Southern in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He also earned his master's in business administration from FSC in 2011.
Miller and his wife, Kristin, have a daughter, Ellie.
Penn State Among the Nation's Premier Athletic Programs in Comprehensive Excellence
Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution.
Nittany Lion students have posted an NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of program-record 92 percent in the most recent report. Ten teams earned a 100 percent graduation rate in the 2021 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. A total of 18 Penn State squads have a GSR of 90% or higher. The Nittany Lions rank No. 4 among all Division I schools with 218 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time.
Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 47 Big Ten championships and nine NCAA National Championships since October 2013. Penn State is one of only five schools that have won at least 10 NCAA Championships since 2012 and earned at least a 90 percent Graduation Success Rate in the 2021 NCAA report (Stanford, Florida, USC, Virginia).
