Alex Romagnolo is Seattle University’s Associate Athletic Director for Development.
Romagnolo joins the Redhawks’ staff from Notre Dame, where he spent four years, first as the Director of the Rockne Athletics Fund and then as the Director of Development.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alex to the Redhawk family,” said Fink. “We are in exciting times for Seattle University Athletics and there is great energy around the program. Alex is a relationship builder, a talented fundraiser and will engage members of our community with opportunities to support student-athletes and the SU experience. His experience at highly selective institutions and as a former Division I student-athlete makes him a tremendous asset to our athletics executive leadership team.”
At UND Romagnolo managed all aspects of the major gifts budget while cultivating, soliciting and securing major gifts for capital campaign, endowments and principal fundraisers to support all aspects of the university. He developed and executed the entire strategy for the Rockne Athletics Fund, increased revenue by $3 million, secured capital, endowment and annual expendable gifts and developed and implemented stewardship experiences.
“I would like to thank Shaney Fink, Father Sundborg, and the entire athletic department for this incredible opportunity,” said Romagnolo. “I am honored and humbled to be a part of the Seattle University community. My family and I are thrilled to be back on the West Coast and in the wonderful city of Seattle. My wife is from the area and we know what a special community this is.”
A four-year member of the men’s soccer team at the University of San Diego from 1999-02, Romagnolo earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 2003. The Toreros won two West Coast Conference titles and reached the NCAA Tournament four times during his playing career. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco in 2009.
“As a former student-athlete, I know what an amazing impact athletics can have on a student’s experience as well as the campus community as a whole,” Romagnolo said. “I hope to play a part in providing that experience to our current and future student-athletes and allowing them to succeed in competition, the classroom and the community.”
He joined the California Bears’ athletic staff in 2007 as the Assistant Director of Ticket Sales and was elevated to the Director of Ticket Sales in 2008, a position he held through 2011.
From 2011-14, Romagnolo served as the Director of Annual Giving and then the Development Director for Grassroot Soccer, a global charitable organization that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV, particularly in Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa, as well as the United States.
He returned to intercollegiate athletics in March 2014 as the Director of the Rockne Athletics Fund at Notre Dame.
Romagnolo and his wife Theresa, an Edmonds, Wash., native who was a standout soccer player at the University of Washington from 1997-00, have two daughters, Sierra and Giovanna.