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Director of Athletics, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Erick Harper is in his fourth year leading Rebel Athletics after being selected as UNLV’s 14th permanent Director of Athletics on Jan. 1, 2022. Harper served as UNLV’s Interim Director of Athletics from August 16, 2021 to December 31, 2021. As UNLV’s AD, Harper oversees all aspects of the athletics department and the Thomas & Mack Center, including general operations, fiscal affairs, facilities, strategic planning, and external relations.

In his first two and a half years on the job, Harper has affected significant change. Under his leadership, a new strategic plan was announced in September 2022 that is aimed at helping deliver a premier student-athlete experience in college athletics and providing Rebels the opportunity to succeed as students, athletes, and into the future as well-rounded community leaders. In alignment with the broader UNLV Top Tier 2.0 Strategic Plan, the athletics department worked in tandem with the University to develop a clear strategy for achieving athletic and academic excellence.

Being a productive member of the community and giving back is important to Harper as he has shown in numerous ways, but most notably was through the athletics department’s hosting of a Bed Build Day in 2022 in the parking lot of the Thomas & Mack Center. Partnering with nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, 100 beds were built to help Las Vegas youth that needed a comfortable place to sleep. The department participated again in April of 2024, improving the record number of bends made to 103.

Harper was recently appointed to the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee and was named Administrator of the Year for 2023-24 by The Leadership Playbook. He served on the 2024 Super Bowl Host Committee board and is an active board member on the Las Vegas Bowl Committee and MW Recognition Committee. He also served as the Mountain West Directors of Athletics’ Chair for 2023-24. Harper was recently selected to serve as liaison for the Football Oversight Committee with the Football Student-Athlete Connection Group (FSACG) and will also serve on the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Oversight Committees’ Playing and Practice Season Subgroup.

Prior to becoming Director of Athletics, Harper served nine years as UNLV’s senior associate athletics director for development. Harper has been in university athletics administration for more than 30 years. He joined UNLV as associate athletics director for development in 2012. In that role, he oversaw fundraising efforts for the department and served as a sport administrator for multiple sports, including football and women’s golf.

Prior to UNLV, Harper was associate athletics director for football operations at the University of Arizona from 2003-11. He began his athletics administrative career at Kansas State University (1990-2003), where he served in development, marketing, and compliance roles and as a sport administrator for multiple sports.

Harper earned his bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Kansas State, where he was a four-year starter and standout defensive back for the Wildcats football team. He later earned a master’s in organizational management and leadership from Ashford University in 2013.

Harper and his wife, Dr. Patrice Hester-Harper, who holds three degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, PhD) from UNLV and is currently associate vice president for development and principal gifts for the university, have two daughters, Sydney (17) and Avery (8).