University of Illinois Springfield Athletics

Mike Hermann is in his second year as the Director of Athletics at the University of Illinois Springfield, his 21^st year overall as a director of athletics. Hermann brought over 30 years of athletics senior leadership experience to the role at UIS, including serving for a combined 12 years as the athletic director at two NCAA institutions, Niagara University and Towson University. He also served as vice president and director of athletics at Kansas Wesleyan University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program, where in 2019 he was named the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year.

Hermann has enhanced athletics programs throughout his career, executing key coaching hires and building supportive cultures for coaches and student-athletes. Most importantly, he values the student-athlete experience with a focus on student achievement both in competition and the classroom.

At Kansas Wesleyan, Hermann helped complete a $7.5 million fundraising campaign for an outdoor sports complex, grew attendance at competitions, increased corporate partnership revenue by 50 percent and saw impressive athletics success, including 26 conference championships.

Hermann came to Springfield from Pacific, an NCAA Division I program in Stockton, Calif., where he was the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations. He served in a similar role at Old Dominion, Norfolk State, Seattle and Xavier. 

Hermann earned his bachelor’s degree at John Carroll University in Cleveland and has a master’s degree from Kent State University.