Celona returned to New England in November 2023 after spending the last dozen years out West. He comes to Dartmouth as part of the restructuring of Dartmouth’s external areas to focus on revenue generation, strategic content and brand management.
His most recent post was with the University of Arizona, where he began in 2017 and led the comprehensive ticket sales and service campaigns for the Wildcats’ nine ticketed athletic programs. Celona oversaw all traditional and digital marketing campaigns as well as 19 full-time staff in the day-to-day operations over four athletic department units, plus was responsible for the department’s multimedia rights and contract negotiations.
Prior to his stint at Arizona, from 2011 to 2017, Celona reimagined department-wide ticket operations and customer service initiatives as well as developed the departments ticket operation’s comprehensive road map for 11 ticketed sports at the University of California Berkeley.
Celona is from Yonkers, New York, and began his career at UMass where he received his bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2010. In his role at Dartmouth, he will oversee all day-to-day activities of ticketing, marketing and fan engagement, creative and strategic content, and broadcasting and multimedia, as well as work closely with Dartmouth’s Learfield partner, Big Green Sports Properties. He is joined in the Upper Valley by his wife, Michelle, and children, Aiden, Skylar, and Laney.