Xavier University Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2018
- Class:
- 1969
John Kucia worked at Xavier University for 34 years, serving as the principal assistant to four university presidents. Kucia retired from the University on June 30 and received the 2018 Paul L. O’Connor, S.J., Leadership Award.
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Kucia oversaw Xavier Athletics and played a pivotal role in moving our teams from the MCC to the Atlantic 10 to now the Big East Conference. Across 18 sports programs, he has seen Xavier make more than 100 NCAA appearances, including 16 for men's basketball in the past 18 years. Â
Kucia, who earned his doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier in 1969 and a master’s from XU in 1972. His professional association with Xavier began in 1984 when he became Director for Alumni Relations, eventually serving as Administrative Assistant to the President and Administrative Vice President.
In his more than three decades in the president’s office, Kucia developed unique collaborative and leadership skills that resulted in historic development and change for Xavier University. From leading the initiative in 1992 to close Ledgewood Avenue to replace a busy city street with pedestrian green space for the campus, to strategic property acquisitions that paved the way for construction of signature campus buildings, Kucia has played a key role in expanding to nearly 200 acres what was once considered a land-locked campus. That list of signature buildings includes the Cintas Center.
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