Mark Hollis Position: Athletics Director

"We gather and engage our community to teach, support and celebrate our student-athletes in their quest for excellence."

This is the vision Mark Hollis has for the Michigan State athletics department. A Michigan State graduate and veteran Spartan athletics administrator, Hollis assumed the role of MSU's 18th athletics director on Jan. 1, 2008, succeeding Ron Mason. Hollis was named athletics director-designate on Sept. 12, 2007, and teamed with Mason in the transition throughout the fall of 2007.

Hollis has more than 20 years of athletics administration experience, either at the school or conference level. His well-rounded background has led to his knowledge of all areas within an athletics department, including marketing, financial administration, television negotiations, fund-raising, game operations, facility management, personnel policy, corporate interaction, sports management and public relations.

Hollis, a 1985 MSU graduate, returned to his alma mater in 1995. Since then, he has been a critical component of the athletic department executive management staff, helping guide the department through short- and long-range plans.

In Hollis' first full season as athletics director in 2008-09, Michigan State enjoyed one of its most successful years of the decade with a 27th-place finish in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, the best showing for the department since 2003 and the third highest in the department's history. Ten teams earned bids to their respective NCAA Championships, led by the men's basketball team, which reached the national title game against North Carolina after advancing to its fifth Final Four in the last 11 years while also winning the Big Ten regular-season championship. In addition, the football team won nine games for the first time since 1999 and played on New Year's Day in the 2009 Capital One Bowl, the men's soccer team won the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, and the crew team won its second straight Big Ten title. Individually, wrestler Franklin Gomez claimed the 133-pound national title.

Michigan State student-athletes excelled not only on the playing field, but in the classroom as well. For the second consecutive year, the department posted the highest cumulative GPA in program history at 3.0052; it also marked the first time the department has ever had back-to-back years with a cumulative GPA of over a 3.0, as last year's 3.0038 set the previous record. The department also set another record as 13 teams achieved a 3.0 or higher term GPA during the spring semester. In the spring semester alone, 333 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 or higher GPA, while 38 student-athletes had a 4.0 term. In addition, 214 student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors throughout the year.

During the spring semester of Hollis' first year as athletics director in 2008, six winter and spring sports garnered team berths to the NCAA Championships, while individuals saw action in four more NCAA Championships. The men's golf and women's rowing teams claimed Big Ten Championships and the men's basketball program reached the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the last 11 years. This success propelled Michigan State to 29th in the Directors' Cup standings.

Prior to his official appointment as athletics director, Hollis played a lead role in two significant head coaching searches during the 2006-07 year. He spearheaded the effort to hire Mark Dantonio as football coach, which has resulted in back-to-back bowl appearances for the program, including a bid to the 2009 Capital One Bowl. He also provided major assistance in the hiring of women's basketball coach Suzy Merchant in the spring of 2007, who led the Spartans to the Sweet 16 in 2009. Hollis' first hire as athletics director arrived on July 2, 2008, when he tabbed Jake Boss Jr. to direct the Spartan baseball program.

Spartan athletic facilities have been upgraded at an unprecedented rate this decade, and will only continue to improve under Hollis. In August 2008, the Spartans moved into one of the nation's finest football facilities, as a $15 million expansion and renovation project for the Duffy Daugherty Football Building was completed. MSU alumni Robert and Julie Skandalaris of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., donated $5 million as the lead gift for the facility expansion and upgrade. The Skandalaris Football Center includes new team, staff and position meeting rooms, coaches' offices and a hall of history. In addition, an expanded weight room was finished in September 2008 that increased the facility in size from 9,000 to 16,500-square feet. The men's and women's soccer programs opened DeMartin Stadium last fall, a state-of-the-art 2,500-seat facility that enables MSU to host conference and national tournaments. This past spring, the baseball program played its inaugural season in McLane Baseball Stadium following a $4 million donation to the 2,500-seat ballpark by Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr.

As a senior associate athletics director, Hollis oversaw all external relations for the MSU athletics department. Included in this group are marketing and promotions, community relations, special-event fund-raising, sports information, ticket operations, spirit groups, broadcast services and corporate sponsorships. He also had sports management supervision of the men's basketball program, while also supervising the cheerleading, dance team and band programs.

Hollis has been recognized by his peers as one of the best in the business. In 2002, he was named recipient of the National Marketer of the Year Award as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). Under his direction, Michigan State has enjoyed increases in ticket revenues, including eight years of sold-out football seasons and nearly 180 consecutive sellouts in men's basketball. He was successful in negotiating a $2 million donation to the university for the construction of the Berkowitz Basketball Complex, providing both the men's and women's basketball programs with one the nation's top office complexes.

One of Hollis' greatest strengths is his ability to "dream big" in an effort to create greater exposure, not just for the Michigan State Athletics Department but for Michigan State University as a whole. He conceptualized "The BasketBowl," establishing a world-record attendance of 78,129 for a basketball game between Michigan State and Kentucky at Detroit's Ford Field. The concept of placing the court in the middle of the field in a domed stadium was used by the NCAA at the 2009 Final Four in Ford Field. Michigan State University earned net revenues of $1 million from the event. Similarly, he executed the "Cold War" ice hockey game between Michigan State and Michigan, drawing a record crowd of 74,554 to an outdoor hockey game in Spartan Stadium.

On Oct. 13, 2005, Michigan State University and WJR - 760 AM announced a five-year agreement to carry Spartan football and men's basketball games, along with coaches' radio shows. Hollis played a leading role in finding MSU athletics a home on the 50,000-watt Detroit radio station, known as the "Great Voice of the Great Lakes." It was an agreement that benefited more than just athletics as WJR regularly promotes the academic accomplishments of the university in addition to broadcasting sporting events.

His creativity and negotiation skills have helped Michigan State enhance its postseason bowl appearances in a very competitive environment. During his time at MSU, the Spartans have appeared in the Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Aloha Bowl, Sun Bowl, Independence Bowl and the Silicon Valley Football Classic. He is also a key component during men's basketball postseason play, having been a part of 12 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and five Final Fours, handling many operational logistics.

In this era of college athletics, Hollis also excels in his relations with corporate partners. During his time guiding the office, the athletic department's annual sponsorship revenue billing increased from $350,000 to nearly $3 million. He developed an innovative sponsorship relationship with Nike for footwear, apparel and licensing resulting in cash payments to the university and product for all athletic programs. He negotiated sponsorship agreements with major corporations such as General Motors, Pepsi, LaSalle Bank and Farm Bureau Insurance. In total, Hollis and his staff managed more than 100 corporate sponsor accounts for the department.

Hollis also understands the importance of television broadcasts and other multi-media outlets for promoting the athletic department and the University. Through a combination of innovative strategies and personal relationships with ESPN, ABC and CBS television, he has increased Michigan State's television exposure by 60 percent for football and men's basketball. His background in the field allows Hollis to better understand how to use the emerging Big Ten Network to provide national television exposure for each one of MSU's varsity sports, and how to combine athletics with the academic mission of the university. Understanding the importance of the Internet in today's world, he negotiated an Internet agreement that has MSU ranked consistently in the national top 20 with nearly 1.7 million page views monthly.

Prior to returning to Michigan State, Hollis spent two years at the University of Pittsburgh as assistant and associate athletic director. While at Pitt, he directed the operations for external affairs, game management and facilities, while also managing the day-to-day operations and budget of the football and men's basketball programs. In just two years, he developed the department's facility master plan, including a $7 million renovation of Pitt Stadium, and initiated the first corporate sponsor program.

Before his stint at Pitt, Hollis worked for the Western Athletic Conference. He joined the WAC as an administrative assistant immediately after college. Two years later, he was appointed assistant to the commissioner and soon thereafter was promoted to assistant commissioner. As assistant commissioner, Hollis was responsible for all aspects of the budget, financial management, corporate sponsorships, promotions, personnel policies, conference tournaments, basketball officiating and general administrative duties. He coordinated relationships with postseason bowl games and television entities, resulting in significant increases in bowl appearances by conference teams.

Hollis earned his bachelor of arts degree in communication from Michigan State in 1985, where he served as a basketball team manager under Jud Heathcote. In 1992, he earned his MBA in business administration from the University of Colorado.

He and his wife Nancy, have a daughter, Katy, and two sons, T.R. and Michael.