UO President Michael Schill has appointed Lundquist College of Business senior instructor Joshua Gordon to serve as the next faculty athletics representative.
The representative acts as a liaison between academics and athletics, working alongside the president and faculty to ensure the academic integrity of the intercollegiate athletics program, promote the well-being of student-athletes, and support institutional oversight. It is a critical role to support the success of student athletes in the classroom and in their chosen sport.
Schill announced Gordon’s appointment in an email to faculty members. He commended Gordon’s contributions to the UO community and shared his excitement for the experience and expertise Gordon will bring to the role.
“Joshua brings a wealth of experience to the role both as a former student-athlete and a professional with over two decades of experience in sports governance and conflict resolution,” Schill said. “I am grateful for Tim Gleason’s service in the role and I look forward to Joshua being able to support our students’ success through this position.”
Gordon has been at the University of Oregon since 2010 and is currently a Woodard Family Foundation fellow and senior instructor of sports business and law. He is also a faculty adviser for the Oregon Consulting Group, a student-run consulting organization in the Lundquist College of Business.
“This is a really interesting time in intercollegiate athletics,” Gordon said. “It is a rapidly changing landscape, and there is opportunity to innovate around the student-athlete experience to ensure it is an unquestionably outstanding academic opportunity. I look forward to collaborating across our university to support our student-athletes both in the classroom and beyond while ensuring their well-being.”
Gordon has served in a number of roles, including director of minors and sports business in the business college and program manager for the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.
In addition to his roles at the UO, Gordon founded the Sports Conflict Institute with a mission to ensure high-performance goals in sports can be achieved consistently and with integrity. At the institute, he has worked with many NCAA member institutions to provide independent assessments of their programs and develop a blueprint for fostering a culture that is attuned to both competitive goals and student-athlete academic experience and well-being.
Gordon also is an international arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, chair of the USA Track and Field SafeSport Appeals Committee, and a member of the editorial board of LawInSport.
Gordon brings years of professional and academic experience to the role along with the unique perspective of having been a student-athlete.
“My time as a student-athlete wasn’t without its hiccups,” Gordon said. “Things didn’t go well and it was unclear where to find the support I needed at the time. I transferred during my second year and it was often challenging trying to compete in the sport that I loved while having my academic and career passions supported.”
Despite the obstacles he faced, they ultimately led him to his focus on justice, equitable opportunity and a career in dispute resolution.
Gordon earned his bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Brandeis University before receiving a master’s in dispute resolution from the University of Massachusetts Boston and his law degree from Suffolk University.
Gordon will assume his appointment Sept. 15. Tim Gleason, the outgoing faculty athletics representative, will continue in his role until Dec. 31 to support a smooth transition. Gleason served as the academic-athletic liaison for seven years prior to announcing his retirement.
To read the announcement, visit the Office of the President website.
—By Jesse Summers and Anna Nguyen, University Communications