A Winning Combination
While overseeing the athletic department, the University of Georgia’s Damon Evans doesn’t lose sight of the academic heart of the institution.
By Frank J. Matthews
Damon Evans
Title: Athletic Director, University of Georgia, 2004-Present
Previous title: Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Affairs, UGA, 2000-2004
Education: Bachelor’s; Finance, UGA, 1992; Master’s, Sports Management, UGA, 1994
If Damon Evans operated in the corporate world, he would probably have graced the cover of several magazines by now. Just 36 years old, his organization turned a $23.9 million profit during 2005-2006. But he isn’t the hot-shot CEO of some Fortune 500 company. Evans is
the athletic director at the University of Georgia.
Recently ranked among the 101 most influential minorities in sports by Sports Illustrated magazine, Evans is the first Black athletic director in the history of the Southeastern Conference and one of the youngest ADs in the country. He oversees a $65 million budget and a program that includes 21 intercollegiate sports teams, 500 student-athletes and a coaching and administrative staff of 250.
But what may set Evans apart from most athletic directors is $2 million. And that’s not his salary, although in May he did sign a contract that will pay him $2.1 million over five years. Rather, $2 million is the amount he donated back to the university from his athletic budget to support the “Archway to Excellence” capital campaign. The campaign intends to establish seven endowed professorships on campus, as well as to create endowed scholarships within the Office of Institutional Diversity. The donation was the result of a conversation Evans had with an acquaintance who worked in the president’s office about the university’s diversity initiatives. After that conversation, Evans decided the donation would be “one of the better things to do.” The gift was also a statement that athletics and academics do indeed go hand in hand.
