James "Tommy" Bell was appointed the Interim Director of Athletics, Fitness and Recreation at Kenyon College with at start date of September 1, 2025. He arrives on campus after serving as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Southern Illinois University (SIU) from 2015 to 2018. Though "semi-retired," Bell remained involved in athletics work and was selected by Kenyon through The Registry, a membership organization that places veteran higher education executives in interim roles.
At SIU, Bell was responsible for administrative, operational and budgetary activities for 18 NCAA Division I sport programs that included a staff of more than 100. His role as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at SIU was preceded by his work as the university's Associate Director of Institutional Advancement from 2001 to 2007.
In between those two stops at SIU, Bell worked as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Recreation and Intramurals at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), serving from 2007 to 2013. At IPFW, he oversaw the operations of 16 NCAA Division I sport programs, as well as a staff of 45.
From there, Bell went on to work, for two years, as the Director of Athletics at Western Illinois University, an NCAA Division I institution with 20 sports programs across two conferences.
Prior to his first stop at SIU, Bell served in multiple roles for the Department of Athletics at Northern Illinois University and was an athletic trainer and physical education teacher in Illinois, Maryland, Montana, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Bell holds a master's degree in health and physical education from Radford University, a bachelor's degree in physical education from Virginia Tech and an associate of arts degree from Ferrum College in Virginia. He was inducted into the Ferrum College Hall of Fame in September of 2015.
