Pat Sullivan begins his 34th year associated with the University of St. Francis athletic department this fall.

His initial season in the program came back in 1976 when he was named the second head basketball coach in school history, replacing Bob Penosky.

One year later, the role of Assistant to the President was added to Sullivan's job description. He served in that capacity through 1982.

In 1986, with the inception of football to the school's athletic log, Sullivan was chosen to head the athletic department, taking over for his former mentor, Gordie Gillespie. Gillespie became athletic chairman, while also starting the gridiron sport, not to mention handling head coaching duties in baseball.

Since then, Sullivan has gone on to capture three Athletic Administrator of the Year awards. The first two honors, for NAIA District 20, came during the initial two years in which the award was created, 1988-89 and 1989-90. Sullivan added the third accolade, this time from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), eight years ago.

With the new millennium came another new challenge for Sullivan. In March of 2000, he was named as both the school's athletic chairman and Assistant to the Vice President for University Advancement.

Four times Sullivan has been inducted into halls of fame, the latest of which came last year when he was inducted into the Providence Catholic Hall of Fame. He also was named nine summers ago in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 1992, the prestigious honor was awarded to him both from his alma mater, Lewis University, and the CCAC.

Sullivan started his string of honors when he graduated as the valedictorian of his 1965 Lewis University class and was selected as a Who's Who Among American College and University Students recipient that year. Since then, the accolades have come from all over, including: Outstanding Young Educator of the Year in 1971, when he was at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox; Community Leader of America in 1972; Alumnus of the Year in 1981 in addition to the Alumni Athletic Achievement Award in 1990 from Joliet Catholic High School; and Coach of the Year recognition no less than 12 times from a diverse number of organizations - CCAC (five times), Illinois Coaches Association (three), NAIA District 20 (three) and NAIA Area IV (once).

On the court, Sullivan has compiled a 498-484 mark during his 33-year reign at USF, highlighted by NAIA national tournament appearances in the 1993-94 and 1995-96 seasons. Prior to St. Francis, he guided the Providence Catholic High School program for seven years, going 93-85, resulting in an overall coaching record of 591-562, which ranks him 27th on Illinois' all-time coaching win list (includes boys'/girls' high school and men's/women's college and junior college coaches).

Of all his accomplishments, Sullivan is most proud of the fact that 170 of his 174 senior student-athletes in basketball have gone on to earn their degrees from St. Francis.

Sullivan has five children, Colleen, Katie, Patrick, Bridget and Anne, and resides in Joliet.