Dr. Jim Jarrett, architect of ODU’s athletic rise and pioneer for women’s sports, dies at 88

NORFOLK, Va. — Old Dominion University is mourning the loss of Dr. James Jarrett, the visionary athletics director who spent four decades shaping the Monarchs into a national force. Jarrett passed away peacefully Thursday night at his Norfolk home, surrounded by family. He was 88.

Jarrett, a native of Decatur, Illinois, arrived at ODU in 1967 as an associate professor in Health and Physical Education and quickly became a catalyst for change. Three years later, at just 32, he became the university’s athletics director—and immediately began redefining what ODU athletics could be.

Under his leadership, Old Dominion became the first college in Virginia to offer athletics scholarships to women in 1974, a groundbreaking move that turned the university into a national hub for women’s sports. Th