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Dr. Chris Hill Dr. Chris Hill has been at the forefront of the most successful period in Utah athletics history. The New Jersey native was just 37 years old when he became Utah's director of athletics in October of 1987. In 1998, he assumed additional duties as a special assistant to the U. president, granting him membership in the University's senior administrative cabinet. Nationally, Hill serves on the prestigious NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. It is the latest of several NCAA committee positions for the highly-regarded administrator. He chaired the Championships/Competition Cabinet from 1997-98 and served on the administrative committee for the NCAA Management Council. He was on the executive committee of the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors (NACDA) from 2002-06. But Hill's biggest impact has been felt on the U. campus, where he has established a legacy of capital improvements, academic excellence, student-athlete support services and winning programs. Hill initiated and directed a $50 million fund-raising campaign for the construction of Rice-Eccles Stadium, which opened in 1998 and is one of several national-caliber facilities constructed during his term. Another is the Burbidge Athletics Academic Center, which offers the finest in academic and support services for Utah's varsity student-athletes (see inset for a complete list of facilities built during Hill's term). On the playing field, Utah has established itself as a conference and national power under Hill. The men's basketball team played for the 1998 NCAA Championship (falling to Kentucky in the finals) and the undefeated 2004 football team played in the Fiesta Bowl as the first team from a non-BCS conference to be invited to a BCS bowl game. Utah has also captured multiple national championships in gymnastics and skiing during his tenure as the director of athletics. Hill positioned himself for the top athletics job by spending two years as the director of development for the Crimson Club. He initially came to Utah as a graduate assistant basketball coach under Bill Foster in 1973-74. He was an assistant on Jerry Pimm's staff from 1979-81.
Between his coaching and administrative stints with Utah athletics, Hill was executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Utah (1981-85)--raising $750,000 in federal, state and private funding for a housing project for people with severe physical disabilities. His many accolades include becoming the first-ever recipient of the Mountain West Conference's Commissioner's Award in 2004, a 1981 Milton Bennion Fellowship, 1984 Utah Recreation Therapy Association Outstanding Service award and 1996 Utah MS Sportsperson of the Year award. He was a 1998 Inductee into the Jersey Shore Hall of Fame. In 2001, the National Consortium for Academics and Sports gave him its Degree Completion and Outreach and Community Service Honor Award. Hill currently serves on the Regence BlueCross BlueShield Board of Directors and the Catholic Community Services Board of Directors. As an undergraduate, Hill won three letters in basketball at Rutgers and co-captained the 1971-72 team. His bachelor's degree from Rutgers is in math education (1972). He also has a master's in education (Utah, 1974), and a Ph.D. in educational administration (Utah, 1982). Hill taught in the University's special education department from 1983-85. He coached boys basketball at Granger High (Utah) from 1975-79, winning 4A Coach of the Year his first year. Hill, 58, is married to the former Kathy Cronin, a faculty member in the U.'s department of special education. They have two children, Aly and Christopher, and two granddaughters, Addie Rose and Lily Marion. Aly played soccer for the University of Oregon and received her master's of social work degree from Utah in 2002. She is married to former Ute skier Ryan Forsyth, B.S. '00, JD '05. Aly teaches children with severe disabilities in the Salt Lake City School District. Christopher graduated with a bachelor's degree in organizational communication from Utah in 2004 and is now a third-year law student at the University of Utah.
UTAH SYNOPSIS HIGHLIGHTS Men's Basketball Football Women's Gymnastics Women's Basketball Skiing Soccer Softball Volleyball Hill's Facility Legacy
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