Stanford Appoints John Donahoe as Athletic Director

• John Donahoe will start working on August 8, 2025.
• Stanford has a long history of success in sports, but recent years have been challenging.
• Andrew Luck will be working on revamping the football program.

Stanford, California — Former Nike CEO John Donahoe has been appointed as the athletic director at Stanford University.

Donahoe will be the eighth athletic director in school history, replacing Bernard Muir, who stepped down earlier this year. Officially, he will begin his duties on August 8.

The university president, John Levin, noted that Stanford occupies a unique place in the national sports landscape and requires a distinctive leader with vision and strategic thinking for the new era of collegiate sports.

Donahoe is a graduate of Stanford's business school and has worked at companies such as Bain & Company and eBay. He held the position of general director at Nike from 2020 to 2024.

Under Muir's leadership, Stanford faced challenges in popular sports, such as football and men's basketball. As a result, a decision was made to appoint former Stanford star Andrew Luck as the general manager of the football program.

Moreover, the men's basketball program has not participated in the NCAA tournament since 2014. Muir also oversaw Stanford's transition to the ACC this year, following the dissolution of the Pac-12.

Over the past 49 years, starting from 1976-77, Stanford has won at least one NCAA title, amassing a record 137 team NCAA titles in total.

Tags: Sport