Mark Hollis (athletic director)

Mark Hollis is the athletic director at Michigan State University. He succeeded Ron Mason as athletic director on January 1, 2008.

Hollis graduated from Croswell-Lexington High School in Michigan class of 1980. He earned a BA in communication from Michigan State University in 1985 and an MBA from the University of Colorado in 1992. Hollis was a basketball team manager under former head coach Jud Heathcote throughout his undergraduate education at Michigan State. Between his BA and MBA, Hollis worked for the Western Athletic Conference under Commissioner Joseph Kearney, who had previously been athletic director at Michigan State.

Hollis was named athletic director on January 1, 2008 and has been a part of the Michigan State athletic department since 1995.

Hollis was responsible for hiring former Eastern Michigan University baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr..

According to the Michigan State University Faculty and Academic Staff Salary List 2012-2013: Hollis' current salary is $600,000.

Hollis is known as an innovator in marketing college sports with innovative events such as the Basketbowl and the Carrier Classic. In 2002, he was awarded the National Marketer of the Year Award as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA).

Hollis was the architect behind the Cold War, an outdoor ice hockey match-up between rivals Michigan State University and the University of Michigan played in 2001 that ended in a 3-3 tie. He later engineered Basketbowl, a 2003 match-up between Michigan State University and the University of Kentucky played at Ford Field. In developed the popular event the Carrier Classic. The first game was held on November 11, 2011 aboard the USS Carl Vinson, between Michigan State and North Carolina. President Barack Obama attended this game.

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