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Dr. Chris Hill Dr. Chris Hill has directed the Utah athletics program through the most successful period in its history. The New Jersey native, now in his 23rd year as the athletics director, was just 37 years old when he was appointed to the top athletics post 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 served on the prestigious NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 2004-09. 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 spearheaded 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. On the playing field, Utah has established itself as a national power under Hill. Utah is the only non-BCS member school to play in two BCS football games and has won both (the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and the 2009 Sugar Bowl) to cap undefeated seasons. The Utes finished with No. 4 and No. 2 national rankings during those BCS campaigns. The men's basketball team played in the 1998 NCAA Championship game and has made five Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight appearances. Utah has also captured multiple national championships in gymnastics and skiing. Hill's background with Utah athletics includes two years as the Crimson Club director of development (1985-86), and two stints as a basketball assistant coach. He was a graduate assistant on Bill Foster's staff in 1973-74 and an assistant coach for Jerry Pimm from 1979-81. While transitioning from coaching to administration, Hill served as the executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Utah (1981-85), where he raised $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, the 1984 Utah Recreation Therapy Association Outstanding Service award and a 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, 59, 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. His wife Kathy is a faculty member in the U.'s department of special education and severe disabilities. They have two children, Aly and Christopher, and two granddaughters, Addie Rose and Lily Marion. Daughter Aly played soccer for the University of Oregon and received her master's of social work degree from Utah in 2002. Now a school social worker for students with disabilities in the Salt Lake City school district, Aly is married to former Ute All-America skier Ryan Forsyth, B.S. '00, JD '05. Son Christopher graduated with a bachelor's degree in organizational communication from Utah in 2004 and received his law degree from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney School of Law in 2009.
ADMINISTRATION HIGHLIGHTS Men's Basketball Football Women's Gymnastics Women's Basketball Skiing Volleyball Softball Soccer Baseball Hill's Facility Legacy
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