Joe Karlgaard (born August 2, 1974) is an American former college athletics administrator. He was most recently the athletics director at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

. Prior to Rice, Karlgaard served as the senior associate athletics director for development at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and as athletics director at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

Early life and education

Born in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

, Karlgaard attended

, earning a bachelor's degree in history in 1996. He also ran track and field for the Cardinal, where he lettered all four years. He later received a master's degree and Ph.D. in educational policy and administration from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Sports administration career

Karlgaard began his career as the administrative assistant for the Stanford track and field program and then coached cross country and track at the

. In 2004, he joined his former coach

Vin Lananna Vin Lananna (born June 17, 1953) is an American track and field coach. He coached collegiate teams included the Stanford Cardinal and the Oregon Ducks. He has served as national team coach for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the 20 ...

as an assistant athletics director at

. In 2005, he was named athletics director at Oberlin following the departure of Lananna to coach track and field at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. In 2011, he returned to Stanford as the senior associate athletics director for development. He was named director of athletics at

on September 9, 2013. Karlgaard is a past chair of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, which selects teams to compete in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

. He also served on the LEAD1 Association's Working Group on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2020. On June 20, 2023, it was announced that Karlgaard was stepping down from his position on August 1 to take a position outside college athletics.

Personal life

Karlgaard and his wife Jill have three sons. His father, Dick, was a former high school athletics director who won the National High School Athletic Coaches Association national athletic director of the year award in 1991. His brother, Rich Karlgaard, is the publisher of Forbes Magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlgaard, Joe 1974 births Living people Rice Owls athletic directors Stanford University alumni University of Minnesota alumni People from Bismarck, North Dakota