Contributor - NewOrleans.com Sports A native of Jonesboro, La., McDonald worked for just over a year on the sports staff of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk before beginning his SID career at his alma mater, Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., after graduating with honors from the school in 1975. He served as sports editor of NSU’s school paper for one year and editor-in-chief for one year, and helped found NSU’s radio station KNSU-AM (now KNWD-FM).
More than 20 of his former graduate assistant and student assistant SID’s have gone on to full-time positions in the SID profession.
McDonald served two years as president of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and remains a member of both the LSWA’s Executive Committee and Hall of Fame Committee.
He also served on the U.S. Olympic Committee media relations staff for two Olympic Games, in 1988 in Seoul, Korea, and in 1996 in Atlanta, and for six U.S. Olympic Festivals.
Dan recently completed his ninth and final year on the sports staff of the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, serving as beat writer for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Sun Belt Conference. During those nine years, he won a total of 31 writing awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and earned a national “Best of Gannett” award for his coverage of the 2005 Little League World Series.
He recently left the Advertiser and now serves as vice president of McD Media, Inc., a marketing and public relations firm founded by his wife Mary Beth. Prior to joining the Advertiser staff in 1999, McDonald served as a sports information director on the Division I level for 23 years, the last 19 at UL Lafayette from 1980-99.
He won several national writing and brochure awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and served two years on that organization’s Board of Directors. It was during that time that UL Lafayette became a member of the Sun Belt.
