Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard signed a new contract to stay at Iowa State through 2024. Pollard has been at Iowa State since 2005, and if he stays through the contract’s end, he will have held the athletic director position at Iowa State longer than anyone else in the school’s history.

Let’s look back at the most notable moments in honor of the Iowa State athletic director who brought water to residents of Flint, Michigan, and expanded the Sukup End Zone.

Sept. 20, 2005: Pollard was named as Iowa State’s new athletic director after Bruce Van De Velde retired. Pollard came from being the University of Wisconsin’s deputy athletic director to becoming Iowa State’s 14th athletic director.

May 17, 2007: Pollard was given a two-year contract extension after the replacement of three Iowa State coaches and a school record of 33,000 season tickets were sold for the 2007 Iowa State football season.

“His leadership and decision-making skills have strategically positioned our athletics program to make significant improvements,” former Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy said.

Aug. 1, 2007: Pollard agrees to a new deal with ABC and ESPN to increase their coverage of Iowa State men’s basketball. This ensured that for the 2007-2008 season, the team would see 13 of their Big 12 games televised as opposed to the seven games the previous season. 

Sept. 7, 2012: Pollard and the Big 12 agreed to a 13-year media rights deal with ABC/ESPN and Fox. The deal was worth about $2.6 billion. The stations will pay the conference $200 million per year, which is divided up among all of the school’s teams.

“The new TV deal is another very public symbol of the strength and solidarity of the Big 12 Conference,” Pollard said. “The contract will assist us in our mission of continuing to improve our overall athletics program in a sound and financially sustainable manner.”

June 19, 2012: Iowa State sold out its new All Sports Package. The package includes tickets to men’s basketball and football tickets among others for $249. This has since become the staple for students looking to attend a mass amount of sporting events during the semester.

This also marked the first time the athletic department oversold tickets for the basketball games. The department sold 3,500 tickets for the student section with a capacity of 2,500. This was due to less than 50 percent of students using their tickets the previous season.

April 23, 2015: Pollard returns to work five weeks after having a heart attack. Pollard penned many thanks to many including his daughter Annie and to Iowa State students. Pollard claimed the experience inspired him to live an even healthier lifestyle.