Patrick O. Hairston, EdD

Patrick Hairston, EdD is a successful sport management administrator who has made a transition into the classroom to help prepare future sport management administrators. Most recently he served as the Sun Belt Conference’s Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Governance and Chief Compliance Officer. In this role, Dr. Hairston oversaw all of the Sun Belt compliance services and assisted member institutions with their campus compliance programs. In addition to compliance services, Dr. Hairston served as the liaison to the league's Faculty Athletics Representatives, Compliance Administrators and Athletic Academic Advisors. He played an important leadership role in the league's diversity and inclusion efforts.

Dr. Hairston served as an Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Governance of the Western Athletic Conference. He worked closely with WAC member institutions in the areas of compliance, NCAA Certification, secondary and major NCAA rules violations, plus conducted compliance reviews and audits. He was the primary liaison for the WAC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Faculty Athletic Representatives.

Dr. Hairston's experience includes efforts at the national level of collegiate athletics, having worked at the National Collegiate Athletic Association as an assistant director of championships. While with the NCAA he served as a manager for selected governing sports committees, including ice hockey, men's soccer, men's tennis and men's and women's rifle, as well as administering championships and managing selected coaches' associations and national governing bodies.

Dr. Hairston served as the Executive Associate Athletic Director at the University at Albany. During his time there, he was a senior executive leadership team member, helping manage 19 sports and more than 500 student-athletes. Dr. Hairston also served as an adjunct professor for Albany's College of Education and University Living-Learning Community.

Prior to his time at Albany, Dr. Hairston held the position of Assistant Director of Athletics at West Virginia University. In addition to his role in overseeing the athletic department's compliance program, Dr. Hairston was an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Sport Management program.

As an educator, prior to his arrival at the Sun Belt Conference, Dr. Hairston served as an Associate Professor and Sport Management Program Director at the University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville, PA. Additionally, he was the Business Department Chair and Director of the Patriots 5 Club – which served to identify, cultivate and solicit gifts for the university.

Early in his sport administration career Dr. Hairston worked as Compliance Coordinator and Athletics Academic Advisor at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. He held an internship at the NCAA national office in Enforcement and Eligibility staff and was a West Virginia graduate assistant in the compliance office. He was a marketing intern with the National Football League's Carolina Panthers.

Dr. Hairston has been involved with numerous NCAA committees during his athletic career tenure and he served as a member of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA).