ROLLA, Mo.  –  After serving as the Director of Athletic Communications for the last 34 years at Missouri S&T, John Kean has announced that he is stepping down from the role on August 5th to enjoy retirement. He will still be around S&T athletics though, taking on a part-time role with the department.

John has played an integral part in S&T’s success since joining the staff in 1990, covering countless stories of the accomplishments of Miner teams and their student-athletes. In his time with Missouri S&T, John has covered several Miner teams that won conference championships as well as over 100 student-athletes who earned Academic All-America honors. Additionally, he has covered seven Academic All-America of the Year selections, 23 GLVC Scholar-Athletes of the Year, six winners of the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award, and two Ken B. Jones Student Athletes of the Year. Through it all John has worked tirelessly both during games and in the office to ensure that each player’s story and achievements were properly highlighted.

Andy Careaga, former chief marketing and communications officer at S&T, and Todd DeGraffenreid, Head Baseball Coach at S&T, both have worked with John for over 20 years and have seen his dedication to excellence firsthand. "For over three decades, John has represented the university and Miner athletics as the consummate professional,” Careaga said, “(He) is a fountain of knowledge about all S&T sports programs. He is highly regarded in the sports information world, as evidenced by the many accolades he has received, and he has served his professional organization, CoSIDA, well. His breadth of sports knowledge also made him invaluable as a teammate for many a trivia night. I've enjoyed working with John over the years, and I know he will be greatly missed by the university, the coaches, the players, the alumni, and all the athletics staff. I wish him all the best." DeGraffenreid added, “John has been the root of all our programs’ successes. His tireless approach to our programs is second to none. We will miss having our weekly conversations about what is going on with our program and the latest news in the league. We will deeply miss his compassion to our teams and coaches.”

"John is one of the greatest in his profession and Missouri S&T is fortunate to have had him in this role for over three decades,” said Athletic Director, Melissa Ringhausen. "Throughout his career, John worked tirelessly to capture the essence of every game and to promote the performance of our student-athletes. His devotion to Miner Athletics and commitment to his profession have earned him numerous honors and accolades on the conference, regional, and national levels. John’s guidance and wisdom has left an indelible mark in the lives of countless student-athletes, coaches, and administrators of NCAA intercollegiate athletics. It has been a privilege and honor to work with John.  On behalf Miner Athletics, I thank him and his wife Lisa, for his years of exceptional service.”

John’s retirement will not only be felt at Miner Athletics, but on a national level as well. John was an active member and leader in various organizations around the country. He served as the president of D2SIDA for four years before serving another three on the College Sports Communicators Board of Directors from 2018-21. He also served as a vice chairman on the College Division Management Advisory Committee within CSC, the GLVC’s scheduling committee and the programming subcommittee during the creation of the GLVC Sports Network. Additionally, he served as the president of the MIAA sports information directors during the 1995-96 academic year. “(John) has selflessly shared his time and talent with the GLVC, NCAA, and College Sports Communicators and truly embodies what it means to be a servant leader,” Naumovich stated, “He has been a fixture at the institution and the league and I want to congratulate him on a job well done.”

John’s contributions also extended to several NCAA tournaments, both on the regional and national level. He has worked in nine men’s basketball and two women’s basketball elite eight championships and was the internal public address announcer for the 2017 NCAA Division II football championship game. He helped develop the NCAA DII Men’s Basketball homepage and has also served as the national coordinator for the softball program for 15 seasons and as a regional coordinator for the men's basketball program through Division II CCAA All-America.

John’s knowledge of the industry and passion to help others succeed resulted in many looking to him as a mentor, including former assistant Luke Rinne. Rinne worked with John for 10 years as the assistant sports information director from 2008-2018. “I’d like to congratulate John on a great career and wish him all the best in retirement,” Rinne said. “I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with John for more than 20 years dating back to my days as a student at Central Missouri and then was blessed to get to be his assistant for nearly a decade. The knowledge I gained from him has been invaluable in my career and even though I’ve moved on he’s still someone that I can turn to when I need advice. I saw firsthand the dedication and commitment that he gave not only our department at S&T, but also the extra time he put in running the Division II basketball website. I saw his commitment to all his committee work and serving the D2SIDA board of directors and his board work for College Sports Communicators… John has been a tremendous mentor to not only me but all who have assisted me. I’m proud of my friend and colleague!”

John’s work has not gone without recognition, receiving multiple awards for his work in the industry. He was inducted into the CSC Hall of Fame in 2021, with the nomination committee stating that he has “helped forge a strategic path for NCAA Division II athletic communications.” Earlier this year, he won the Warren Berg award through the CSC for “outstanding contributions to the field of college athletics communications.” Rinne played a key role in this award, stating, “One of the highlights of my career was when I got to call and tell (John) that he was this year’s winner of the College Sports Communicator’s Warren Berg Award. I was proud to nominate him.” John has also been the recipient of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award from the GLVC in 2018 and the Roy Pickerill Distinguished Service Award from the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) in 2023 and has won two district writing awards from the CSC, taking first place in 2006 and second in 2022.

“I have been very fortunate to have been able to work in a field that I enjoy for the past 34 years,” John said, “I have a lot of great memories of events I’ve been able to cover, the people I’ve had the pleasure to work with and the opportunity to chronicle the history of athletics at Missouri S&T. Fortunately, I’ll still have a chance to continue doing some of those things in my new role in the department. There are so many people I can thank – the administrators, coaches, student-athletes, student and volunteer workers, colleagues from other institutions and last, but not least, the assistants I’ve had over that span. Everyone has had a hand in building the athletic communications office to where it is today and feel that the department is in good hands going forward.”