Dave Kemmy enters his sixth year as Director of Athletics, Intramurals and Recreation.
“Dave Kemmy has provided strong leadership and direction for our athletic program and is well respected on campus, within our conference and on a national level,” said Vice President for Student Affairs John J. King, Ed.D. “He brings an exceptional degree of wisdom, energy and commitment to the position and I am delighted that he will lead our entire athletics staff and our student-athletes into the future.”
Kemmy was first named Acting Athletic Director in June 2009 following the departure of George Kolb, who left RWU to take a position at Villanova University. Over the next two years, Kemmy guided the Athletic Department through numerous successes and improvements, most notably the construction of the $2.3 million turf field completed in the summer of 2011.
During the 2010-11 academic year, Roger Williams won nine Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships. In addition, the RWU Sailing team achieved a #1 national ranking for the first time in school history in April 2011 and won its first ICSA Team Racing National Championship just a month later.
Kemmy was then promoted to Athletic Director prior to the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year. In his first year, Kemmy oversaw an RWU Athletic department that enjoyed a great deal of success, including three Sailing National Champion appearances and a National Championship-Runner-Up, an Equestrian National Championship Honorable Mention, nine Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships, and six NCAA Tournament appearances.
Beginning in that year, the Roger Williams University Athletic Department has risen to new heights under Kemmy’s leadership, including the following accomplishments:
- Elevated the Field Hockey program to varsity status
- Reinstated the Men’s Golf team to the varsity level for the first time since 2004.
- Introduced Men’s and Women’s Polo as varsity sports
- Highest-ever ranking in the Division III Learfield Sport Director’s Cup (48th in Fall 2013)
- 33 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships
- 42 Individual and Team National Championship Appearances
- First-ever NCAA National Championship (David Welch, 2016 197 lbs. Wrestling National Champion)
- 60.8% RWU Athletic Department Winning Percentage
- 66.6% Commonwealth Coast Conference Winning Percentage
- 1 Commonwealth Coast Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophy
- 2 Commonwealth Coast Conference Women’s All-Sports Trophies
- 349 All-Conference Honorees
- 16 Rookies of the Year
- 24 Conference Players of the Year
- 16 Coaches of the Year
- 199 All-New England Players
- 29 All-Americans
- 24 Academic All-Americans
- 444 CCC All-Academic Team Student-Athletes
- Committed Over 25,000 Hours of Community Service by RWU Student-Athletes
Prior to being named Athletic Director, Kemmy spent 15 years as Roger Williams University’s assistant athletic director for administration, where he coordinated all team schedules, travel and game officials, in addition to his oversight of athletic budgets. He joined RWU in 1990 as director of sports information, intramurals and recreation, and served as the first head coach of the women’s soccer program for five years before becoming head coach of the wrestling team in 1994. In March 2011, Kemmy was inducted to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Rhode Island Wrestling Hall of Fame and New England Wrestling Association Hall of Fame.
In 2012, Kemmy ended his 18-year career as Head Coach of the RWU Wrestling team. In his first year with RWU, Kemmy was named NCAA Division III National Rookie Coach of the Year and New England Rookie Coach of the Year. His teams have claimed five Pilgrim League Championships during his time as coach, in addition to winning the 2007 New England Dual Meet Championship. Overall he guided the RWU Wrestling team to 250 wins over the course of his career, along with a .594 winning percentage. In addition, 18 of his wrestlers were named Academic All-Americans on 31 separate occasions including four NWCA All-Americans.
