AMES — Josh Turner is the first addition to athletic director Jared Benko’s executive staff, Benko announced Friday morning. 

Turner joins the athletic department as the senior deputy athletics director. His responsibilities will include strategic planning, commercial strategy, revenue generation and revenue sharing and NIL. 

“We are excited to welcome Josh Turner to Iowa State Athletics,” Benko said in a press release from Iowa State Athletics. “Josh brings a great deal of experience and knowledge, particularly in building out front office operations and managing revenue sharing. I have been impressed with his leadership, strategic thinking and understanding of where college athletics is headed. We look forward to welcoming Josh, Bailey, Olivia and their baby boy on the way to the Cyclone family!” 

Turner worked at Georgia Southern in 2020-22 as a budget analyst under Benko, and later returned to the university as the senior associate athletics director for business operations from 2024-25.

He was a sport administrator for baseball, volleyball and women’s golf and co-developed a $10 million baseball facility. 

Over the last two years, Turner served as the deputy athletics director and chief financial officer at Florida State. His wide portfolio included enterprise financial strategy, revenue sharing, NIL, multimedia rights, contracts, analytics and special projects. 

Benko and Turner have backgrounds in dealing with NIL and revenue sharing, potentially signaling Iowa State’s emphasis on adjusting to the future of college athletics.

Turner oversaw the department’s $243 million consolidated budget and prepared long-range financial plans as college athletics continues to evolve.

“I’m honored to join Iowa State as Senior Deputy Athletics Director and grateful to Jared Benko and university leadership for their confidence,” Turner said in the press release. “As the economics of college athletics evolve, the institutions best positioned to thrive will be those that pair strong traditions with disciplined, forward-looking strategy. Iowa State has both, and with CyTown and the talented team already in place, I look forward to helping translate that strength into sustained competitive advantage for Cyclone student-athletes.” 

Turner grew up in Salem, Virginia, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Southeastern University as a student-athlete in baseball. 

After graduating, he spent time at IMG Academy and was a consultant for the Tampa Bay Rays organization before heading to Georgia Southern.