Welcome Neal Molitor, J.D. to the Sport Management Faculty
The Sport Management program is very excited to welcome Neal Molitor, J.D. to the faculty beginning in the Fall 2019 semester. Molitor joins KU after years of experience in intercollegiate athletics administration. After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa, Neal attended Creighton University for law school — earning his Juris Doctor in 2011.
“When we first started discussing this position, someone with Neal’s professional background is exactly what we were looking for,” Dr. Jordan Bass, Associate Chair of the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences said. “When you combine those experiences with Neal’s infectious personality and engaging teaching style, we believe he will greatly contribute to our program and we cannot wait for him to be a Jayhawk.”
Molitor is native of Carroll, Iowa and currently serves as the Associate Director of Compliance at Iowa State University. Prior to his seven years in Ames, Neal was the Director of Compliance at the University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) and interned at both the Iowa State and UNO compliance offices during law school. In his roles, Molitor interpreted, applied, and monitored NCAA, Conference, and Institutional regulations while leading hundreds of educational session regarding the rules. He also coordinated and oversaw the internship programs within those offices.
“Through my experiences, I have developed a passion for wanting to help people achieve their goals,” Molitor said. “Whether it was helping a coach navigate an NCAA bylaw or training a compliance intern, I found a lot of satisfaction in assisting others. That lead me to pursue a career where you are constantly teaching and mentoring, and I thought there was no better fit than working in a college classroom setting. Additionally, I was particularly drawn to the KU faculty because of their collaborative culture and by how it was apparent they truly cared for their students.”
“I am extremely excited to work with the students and help them succeed in the sport management field. I am looking forward to the discussions and debates in both the traditional and online classrooms, and I cannot wait to learn from and collaborate with the faculty and staff in the department,” Molitor said. “I plan to draw from my professional experiences to make the topics we discuss in class ‘come to life.’ Being in the NCAA Compliance field for almost a decade has provided me with several memorable experiences with coaches, administrators, staff, fans, and student-athletes. I will use what I have learned from these interactions to explain how the theories outlined in the material are applied in the field. I will also use my experience from working with search committees to help students understand what employers are looking for and to give examples of some questions they ask during the interview process.”
