Mark Brown, who has served as Pace University’s Director of Athletics for 14 years, has established the Mark R. Brown Athletics Leadership Fund. This planned gift, made through his estate, is intended to support student-athletes at Pace University in the future.
Brown stated, “I am choosing to make this commitment to Pace because Pace made a commitment to me 14 years ago. In my role, I know I am making an impact in the lives of students, and I find that immensely satisfying. I could not imagine doing anything else at any other place. Pace has become my family.”
Before joining Pace University, Brown spent 18 years as an associate athletic director at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He said that moving to a Division II environment allowed him to see the direct impact of his work on students.
He recalled his early experiences at Pace: “Every person I met on campus was so kind and authentic, and I could really tell how much they cared about the students and this community.”
During his tenure, Brown became the longest-serving athletic director in the Northeast 10 Conference four years ago. Under his leadership, the university experienced growth in enrollment and academic achievement among student-athletes. The department achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.42 during the 2024-25 season with over three-quarters of its members earning spots on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll.
Brown also played a key role in developing new athletic facilities and upgrading existing ones to improve the experience for student-athletes.
Explaining his decision to make an estate gift through his retirement plan, Brown noted that naming Pace as a beneficiary can be done easily without legal fees or changes to wills or trusts. He added that retirement assets left to universities are not taxed as income.
He hopes others will consider similar contributions: “Because I feel so fortunate, I feel it is only appropriate to share my good fortune in as many ways as I can. I’m not a guy who has to live in the largest house or drive the newest car; I get profound satisfaction from being a servant leader and helping other people become successful. I feel incredibly blessed and proud to be able to make this commitment to a place that has become so special to me.”
Individuals interested in supporting future student-athletes at Pace University are encouraged to contact Marc Potolsky for more information.
