Mark Harlan Named As Utah Athletic Director

Mark Harlan Named As Utah Athletic Director

SALT LAKE CITY-Friday, the University of Utah, via an announcement from president Ruth V. Watkins, has appointed Mark Harlan as the new director of athletics. Harlan will take over the responsibilities on July 1.

Harlan comes from the University of South Florida and during his tenure, the Bulls won 12 American Athletic Athletic Conference championships while nine different sports programs were ranked in the Top 25 during the 2017-18 academic year.

The athletic department also had an 82 percent Graduation Success Rate in 2017 and 12 USF squads achieved a GPA of 3.0 or better and four programs earned perfect Academic Progress Report scores.

Furthermore, the Bulls’ athletic department commenced record-setting agreements for multimedia rights and athletic apparel, generation more than $53 million in revenue during the terms of the agreements.

In speaking with Salt Lake City media Friday, Harlan says he “is humbled to follow in the footsteps of [former AD] Chris Hill.”

Prior to taking over at USF in 2014, Harlan served in various positions at campuses across the country, such as serving as senior associates athletic director for external relations at UCLA and associate athletic director at the University of Northern Colorado, among others.

Harlan has also earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Arizona.

At the helm at Utah, Harlan will oversee 20 varsity sports, including men’s lacrosse, a new addition for the 2019 season, a staff of close to 200 and have an $80 million budget to work with.

Harlan will also assume the task of planning and fundraising for a potential expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Watkins selected Harlan following a national search and receiving input from an advisory committee consisting of university faculty, administrators, coaches, former athletes and community leaders.