INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has named Tom Daeger as the recipient of the 2023 Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni Award of Distinction, it was announced by the Conference office on Wednesday.
Daeger was chosen as this year’s winner by the GLVC Awards Committee and will be formally recognized by the Conference at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Spring Awards Reception in St. Charles, Mo., on Tuesday, May 23.
A former baseball student-athlete at the University of Indianapolis, Daeger was nominated by the Greyhounds’ administration, led by Senior Associate Athletics Director Matt Donovan.
The Bertram Alumni Award of Distinction is an honor that extends beyond one’s collegiate career. It is presented to an individual(s) who displays academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character, and leadership, while serving their institutions with personal distinction since their graduation, while also making postgraduate public or community service contributions to athletics at any level.
A 2000 graduate of UIndy, Daeger was a four-year starter for the Greyhounds’ baseball team. He was the 1996 GLVC Freshman of the Year, All-GLVC honoree (1998), three-time Academic All-GLVC selection (1998-2000), and Academic All-District (2000). He helped UIndy to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a third-place finish in the NCAA Division II World Series in 2000, earning Team MVP honors. Daeger graduated as the school’s all-time hits and total bases leader. Additionally, his 2000 baseball team was inducted into the UIndy Hall of Fame in 2012.
After obtaining his Bachelor of Science in communications with a concentration in sports information, Daeger served as a high school assistant coach and an assistant/hitting coach at UIndy before moving on to spend time as a sports reporter for
The Southside Times and color commentator for UIndy baseball contests.
Now serving as the first Commissioner of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Daeger’s first foray into conference office administration was in 2001-06 as the first sports information director of the NCAA Division III Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). He followed that up by becoming the first SID at the GLVC in 2006 before being promoted to Associate Commissioner in 2008, serving in that role until 2011. While in that position, he launched a new online presence for the Conference, integrated a social media strategy, cultivated a licensing relationship, supported sponsorship solicitation, served as an NCAA site representative at multiple venues, developed broadcast partners, and led the compliance program for two separate terms while also serving as Chair of both the CoSIDA (now CSC) NCAA Legislation Committee and North Central Region of the Daktronics Division II All-American Baseball Program.
Succeeding his stint at the GLVC, the Indianapolis native created the Great Midwest from scratch in 2011, leading the expansion of that league from six charter members to 14 full-time members, starting in 2023-24. The conference has also added sport sponsorship from an initial allotment of 11 championship sports in 2012-13 to 26 in 2022-23. With a devotion to the experience of member institutions and developing the Conference into a stable, successful entity, Daeger has been focused on creating an office structure of five full-time staff members, overseen every aspect of the league’s transition that has included the implementation of an officiating program, league administration of officiating payments, development of supervisors of officiating, professional development summits for league administrators, an increase in operational funding, marketing and strategic communication plan development and implementation, finalization of agreements with numerous corporate partners, the introduction of a digital network, original and continued branding efforts, as well as conference and regional events. Moreover, Daeger also guided creation of the Great Midwest and Mountain East Swimming & Diving Championships, which was the first co-sponsored championship by two Division II leagues. The unique partnership aided an increased student-athlete experience for the participating institutions from both conferences, while he also facilitated a similar partnership with Conference Carolinas for the sports of men's and women's bowling.
Since beginning his tenure at the G-MAC, Daeger has served on the D-II Membership Committee as both the Vice-Chair (2016-18) and Chair (2018-19), as Co-Chair of the D-II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Legislation and Administrative Committee, as well as previous service on the D2CCA Executive Committee and as President, on the Midwest Region Regional Advisory Committees for Men’s Basketball, Baseball, and Men’s Soccer, and is still an active member of the D2CCA and NACDA.
The GLVC’s Alumni Award of Distinction is named in remembrance of Dr. Charles Bertram, who served as a professor and faculty athletic representative at the University of Southern Indiana and was a former President of the GLVC. He contributed a great deal of time, energy, and effort to the league’s success and was instrumental in Conference operations for many years.
Past recipients of the Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni of Distinction Award include Elizabeth Ramsey, Julie (Thoman) Perry, Jim Thordsen, Keith Bailey, Deb DiMatteo, Dr. Alex Lentsch, Dr. Sandra Magnus, Pat White, Dennis Reinbold, Dr. David Porta, Dr. Steven Giles, Julie Fruendt, Dr. Jane Weaver, Jim Vargo, LuAnn Humphrey, Dr. Michael Bernier, Lois Taurman, Larry Tucker, Ron Romain, John Gibson, Francis G. Slay, Linda Deno, Pat Sullivan, and Dr. Paul Stricker.