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- Title:
- Director of Athletics
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- Phone:
- 904-646-2398
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- Email:
- jerry.thor@fscj.edu
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- Twitter:
- jerrythor
Bio
Jerry Thor has served in higher education for over a decade as an instructor, coach, and administrator.
At FSCJ, he is responsible for overseeing eight varsity sports, five fitness centers and walking trails, intramural sports, FSCJ Wildwood (Northeast Florida's premier Outdoor Retreat Center), and the new competitive esports program. His additional leadership roles at the College include serving as the Employee Wellness Committee - South Campus Lead, American Heart Association First Coast Heart Walk - Student Participation Lead, FSCJ Commencement - Lobby Area Lead, FSCJ 60th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Mascot Rebrand Committee, and the newly elected Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) – South Campus Representative.
At the state and national level, he currently serves as the sports chair for FCSAA DII Softball, national chair for NJCAAE Madden and EA Sports FC, and was elected to the executive board of the National Alliance of Two Year College Administrators (NATYCAA).
Thor joined FSCJ from Carl Sandburg College, where he was the athletic director whose transformation of the department led to the most successful year in school history. He also served as head coach of the Chargers Esports program that won the college's first national championship in any sport. In addition, Thor helped establish Women's Golf at the region level, serving as its inaugural sports chair and hosting the first-ever region tournament. Sandburg would go on to win back-to-back region championships.
Prior to Sandburg, Thor was assistant athletic director at Iowa Central for the top-ranked two-year athletic department in the nation. During his tenure, the Tritons were four-time Daktronics Cup champions for overall program excellence in two-year college athletics and won four straight Learfield Cups designating the #1 department in the nation at each level of college sports.
Thor finished his career at Iowa Central as the winningest tennis coach in school history, going 94-34. In 2021, Iowa Central’s women’s team had a perfect 17-0 record in the regular season, which was capped off by both men’s and women’s teams posting top-10 finishes at the NJCAA Division I national championships. Both teams repeated as ITA All-Academic Team and won back-to-back ITA National Community Service & Outreach Awards.
In 2018, Thor launched one of the first college esports programs in the country and quickly developed it into one of the nation's best. He spoke at the 2019 National Association of College Esports (NACE) national convention on best practices in growing a program and developing a positive team culture. For years he has been a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAAE) Competition Committee, where he advises on three tiers of league competition across 16 game titles.
Thor arrived at Iowa Central after building Eastern Florida and Seward County into national powers in NJCAA DI tennis. At each school he took over programs struggling to find their way and quickly achieved top 10 national rankings for both men’s and women’s teams, multiple region titles, and an ITA National Championship. Along with a list of award-winning players, Thor was recognized by peers as ITA Region Coach of the Year.
Thor played collegiate tennis at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois. He helped Moraine Valley to two Skyway Conference titles and two Region IV titles, while earning First Team All-Conference and Region IV selections as a freshman and sophomore. He twice competed at the NJCAA National Championships in Plano, TX, where Moraine Valley finished ranked among the top 20 in the nation. He was also an NJCAA Academic All-American and ITA Scholar-Athlete, and in 2015 was inducted into the college's Alumni Hall of Fame.
After graduating from Moraine Valley, Thor attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a degree in finance. He later earned his master’s in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University Irvine, where Thor currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors and volunteers to raise and grant funds to support student-led initiatives as a member of the university's Alumni Fund Committee.
Thor and his wife Veronica are originally from Chicago and have four sons: Sebastian, Benjamin, Theodore, and Oliver.