Ryan Alpert joined the Tennessee Athletics executive leadership team as Deputy Athletics Director/Chief Operating Officer in August of 2021. No stranger to the Southeastern Conference, Alpert—a native of Columbia, South Carolina—transitioned to Knoxville from the University of Missouri, where he held the role of Deputy AD for External Operations. At Missouri—his second professional tenure there—Alpert was charged with developing new revenue streams in support of the Tigers’ 20-sport intercollegiate athletics program while also providing leadership and oversight of the Tiger Scholarship Fund (TSF), ticketing and marketing staffs. He also served as the department’s liaison to Mizzou Sports Properties and was the sport administrator for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. Alpert’s vision and leadership enabled Mizzou to withstand and overcome the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. His TSF staff raised a record $55.5 million during the 2020-21 fiscal year—exceeding its projected goal by more than 250 percent. Despite unprecedented hurdles related to the pandemic, Alpert led Mizzou past the $50 million threshold for just the second time in the department’s history. He returned to Mizzou after two impactful years as Brian White’s Deputy AD at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) from 2018-20. Alpert oversaw the Owls’ development, ticket sales/operations, and equipment staffs while also leading the department’s strategic planning efforts and serving as sport administrator for football and men’s basketball. Under his leadership, FAU saw giving totals grow more than 600 percent over the previous year’s total, while the FAU Athletics annual fund, the Paradise Club, expanded by close to 300 percent in dollars raised and increased membership by 25 percent. Before moving to FAU, Alpert strategically guided Missouri’s TSF staff to record-setting fundraising success while also serving as the sport administrator for men’s golf. Under his leadership, TSF generated a school-record $50.4 million in support of Mizzou Athletics during the 2016-17 fiscal year, an amount that broke the previous record by nearly $5 million (which was raised in Mizzou’s first year of SEC membership). Alpert first came to Mizzou following five years on the athletics staff at the University of Memphis, where he played a key role in the department’s fundraising efforts. After starting his career as an assistant director of development, he was promoted to a director’s role and eventually to assistant athletics director. Notably during his tenure there, Alpert assisted the Memphis development team in securing the largest gift in UM women’s athletics history. Another significant element of Alpert’s achievements at Memphis included leadership of a capital campaign that raised $32.5 million over an 18-month period. He also served as the lead presenter on a $4.8 million project with the City of Memphis to renovate and create new premium-seating opportunities at historic Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. His experience was not limited to only securing major gifts, as he also oversaw Memphis’ $7 million annual fund while spearheading an overhaul of its athletics’ gift-in-kind program. Alpert also served as the sport administrator for the Tigers’ nationally ranked men’s and women’s tennis teams. Alpert began his career as an athletics’ advancement intern at the University of Miami (Fla.) before interning at South Carolina, where he earned an undergraduate degree with cum laude distinction. He later received a master’s degree from Memphis with a Leadership Studies concentration.