In his 13th year at the helm of the Northern Illinois University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Sean T. Frazier has guided the Huskies to historic milestones competitively, academically and socially, cemented his status as both a national and community leader and led successful fundraising efforts that have transformed the student-athlete experience at NIU.
During the 2025-26 school year, Frazier will serve as the President of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), ensuring that NIU continues to have a voice on the national stage of college athletics leadership. Under Frazier’s guidance, NIU accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West for football and the Horizon League for the majority of its Olympic sports beginning in 2026, in response to the ever-changing intercollegiate athletics landscape, seeking sustainability and continued academic and athletics success.
Frazier’s record of success at NIU has led to national recognition. In 2021-22, he was named one of five finalists for the Athletic Director of the Year by Sports Business Journal and in 2023, he was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business. In May 2024, Frazier became a “Hall of Famer” as he was inducted into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame on his native Long Island.
With the NIU Convocation Center, the Huskie Marching Band, and most recently, NIU Recreation, added to the NIU Athletics family, Frazier’s influence and forward-thinking leadership extends throughout the campus and community. His work to move not just Huskie Athletics, but Northern Illinois University as a whole, forward, led to his promotion to Vice President/Director of Athletics and Recreation in 2021.
.
The passage of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) legislation at the state and NCAA levels, the expansion of the College Football Playoff and shifting conference affiliations, added to the significant challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, have seen Frazier take the lead on a local, conference and national level, and continue to adapt to change while setting NIU firmly on a path forward now and for the future. In keeping with the changing landscape of college athletics, under Frazier’s leadership, NIU has partnered with the Boneyard Victor E. Collective to increase NIL opportunities for Huskie student-athletes.
After COVID-19 shut down college athletics in March 2020, Frazier directed the Huskies through a school year and competition season unlike any other, with a focus on protecting the health of NIU student-athletes while providing them with opportunities to compete. Through the pandemic and despite moving to a completely virtual format, NIU’s two premiere fundraising events – Huskies Invest and the Virtual Victor E. Bash – enjoyed record-setting years.
The NIU wrestling team claimed the MAC West Division crown in 2024 while the Huskie men’s golf team captured the 2023 MAC Championship, their first conference title since 1985, and secured a NCAA regional berth. Those are two of the 15 MAC Championship won by Huskie teams during Frazier’s tenure at NIU, the most MAC titles won under the leadership of any athletic administration in school history.
Huskie football has claimed three MAC titles (2014, 2018, 2021) which account for half of all MAC titles won in the history of NIU Football. The Huskies entered 2025 as the winningest FBS team in the state of Illinois over the last 10 years. Men’s and women’s basketball have both broken postseason droughts under Frazier, with men’s basketball making its first postseason appearance in 20 years in 2016, while the women’s team earned a bid to the WNIT Tournament in 2017. Men’s basketball claimed the MAC West Division title in 2020 before COVID cancelled the MAC Tournament, while volleyball (2015, 2016), men’s tennis (2014, 2015), gymnastics (2019), cross country (2020), indoor track & field (2021) and men’s soccer (2021) have all collected MAC Championship trophies since Frazier’s arrival in 2013. In addition to the individual team titles, in 2017 NIU won the MAC’s Fred Jacoby Trophy, presented to the top women’s athletic program in the conference, for the first time.
NIU also has produced student-athletes across the sports spectrum who have achieved at the highest levels both athletically and academically during Frazier’s tenure. Quarterback Jordan Lynch finished third in voting for the 2013 Heisman Trophy and football’s Max Scharping was a finalist for the National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell Trophy, the “Academic Heisman” in 2018. Women’s track and field (Ashley Tutt) and wrestling (Izzak Olejnik) produced NIU’s most recent All-Americans, while wrestler Mason Kauffman made history in 2021 as the first Huskie to earn the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award, as the top student-athlete participating in a NCAA Championship.
Kauffman, softball’s Katie Keller, and men’s soccer’s Enrique Banuelos brought NIU’s total to fifteen Academic All-America recognitions from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) since 2013-14, with student-athletes from seven different sports recognized.
The emphasis on academic excellence has extended throughout the department. NIU student-athletes finished the 2023-24 academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.408 (highest of all-time), with 15 teams recording a team GPA above 3.0. Every NIU sports program surpassed the Academic Progress Rate for the 16th straight year, and nearly 90 percent of student-athletes who have entered NIU over the last eight years have earned their degrees according to the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures.
In terms of revenue generation, the Huskie Athletic Fund (HAF), the official fundraising arm of NIU Athletics, as well as the Revenue Generation group have continued to raise the bar under Frazier, breaking records in multiple areas including unrestricted annual fund dollars, sports specific dollars and overall departmental revenue. In 2024-25, the total athletics funds raised reached more than $5.3 million, which is 48 percent higher than the previous high in 2012. NIU saw its unrestricted giving rise by 38 percent, its number of donors giving unrestricted dollars rise 285 percent and its overall donor participation grew by 64 percent. NIU’s total dollars raised saw an 18 percent increase while Huskies Invest surpassed the $1 million mark for the fourth consecutive year.
During 2022-23, the record for departmental revenue was shattered once again with $7.79 million in annual revenue. This amount includes donations, gift-in-kind, and income from premium area sales as well as game guarantees, licensing, and external agreements. Ticket Revenue increased for Football by 25% from previous year and women's basketball by 21%. Attendance in men's basketball was up 38% and women's basketball saw a 27% increase. The HAF also saw a new record in unrestricted dollars at $1.9 million in Fiscal year 2024.
In eight years, Huskies Invest: A Week of Giving has generated more than $5.5 million, with more than $1 million raised in Fall of 2024 alone. The 2022 “Virtual” Victor E. Bash resulted in a record $251,725 raised in support of NIU student-athletes. That brought the all-time total for that event – initiated in 2015-16 as the in-person Victor E. Ball – to almost $1.3 million. Thanks to the success of the Bash, NIU Athletics addressed one of the biggest issues facing student-athletes and young people across the country, mental health support and added Dr. Shyann Beach to the newly created role of Director of Athletic Counseling.
The “Campaign to Sustain,” a major fundraising initiative focused on ensuring NIU Athletics’ ability to carry on its rich tradition while lifting future Huskies to new heights and instilling NIU alumni and the campus community with pride, continues to produce results. As of August 2021, the Campaign, which includes opportunities to support Cost of Attendance scholarships and capital projects, has raised over $2.5 million in support of Huskie student-athletes and sports programs.
Three of those capital projects were brought to completion in 2018-19. The Northwestern Medicine Sport Performance Center and the Phi Sigma Kappa Alumni Association of NIU Nutrition Center, dedicated in June and completely donor-funded, directly impacts NIU’s 400 student-athletes in 17 sports programs in the critical areas of fitness, mental health and wellness, and nutrition. The renovation of the Dave and Linda Nelson Suite in the NIU Convocation Center resulted in a complete modernization of the space, incorporating many new amenities, and providing Huskie fans with a true game atmosphere inside a high-level premium area.
NIU also has signed and/or renegotiated multiple contracts resulting in increased revenues for Huskie Athletics over the last eight years. In 2024-25, Frazier welcomed Van Wagner as NIU’s new multimedia rights and sponsorship partner, while deals with adidas, Sodexo and Collegiate Licensing Company have all paid dividends for the Huskies. The NIU Convocation Center, which became a part of Intercollegiate Athletics in 2013, has attracted popular acts like Thomas Rhett, Brad Paisley, Casting Crowns, Second City, WWE Live and Monster Trucks since Frazier’s arrival, and served as a COVID-19 vaccination hub in 2021. During the 2023-24 school year, over 400,000 people came through NIU Athletics facilities to attend NIU Athletics events, NIU and high school graduations, job and career fairs, cheerleading, IHSA and IESA competitions and more. In August 2024, NIU introduced two apparel store locations, at the NIU Convocation Center and the NIU Recreation Center.
Throughout his time at NIU, Frazier has worked to engage the campus and local communities, expand the Huskies'
fan base and connect with alumni, whether strengthening the Huskies’ foothold in Chicagoland by bringing a home football game to the city where more than 140,000 living alumni reside, attending meetings with local leaders, or instituting the Huskie Fan Advisory Board to seek ideas and opinions on how to improve the fan experience.
Frazier led the charge as NIU Athletics successfully executed a number of landmark events, including the 2016 Huskie Chi-Town Showdown football game versus Toledo at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, and prior to that, the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships at Rich Harvest Farms, “the Home of the Huskies” in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Since arriving at NIU, he has assumed a leadership role on campus, serving on and leading several committees. In 2017, he began co-teaching a course in college athletics in NIU’s Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.
Since his arrival at NIU, Frazier has been firmly committed to the future of Huskie Athletics. In October 2014, Frazier presented the NIU Athletics Facilities Master Plan, the first facilities master plan for the department since 1991. During his tenure at NIU, completed facility projects include the installation of a new turf fields at both Huskie Stadium and the NIU Soccer and Track and Field Complex, the Nelson Tennis Center, new and improved locker rooms for multiple teams, a new basketball court and video boards in the Convocation Center and numerous upgrades at the NIU Recreation Center. With the renovation of the Dave and Linda Nelson Suite, the opening of the Phi Sigma Kappa Alumni Association of NIU Nutrition Center and the Northwestern Medicine Sports Performance Center as well as the rededication and renovation of Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park with a completely new infield Astroturf surface, new projects are rising to the forefront as Frazier continues to push the department forward.
Additions to the game-day experience introduced since Frazier’s arrival include "The Yard", the official pregame tailgate area for NIU football. Inside Huskie Stadium, fans can enjoy climate-controlled comfort, food and more in the Coaches Club, while the area in the south end zone was transformed into Toyota Touchdown Village, a field level party area. In the Convocation Center, courtside seating, as well as the Nelson Suite and private suites, have provided increased amenities and premium experiences for Huskie men’s and women’s basketball.
In August 2023, NIU introduced #MissionPossible, NIU Athletics’ 2023-26 Strategic Plan, the third such document produced during Frazier’s NIU tenure. The first plan was introduced in May 2015, and the second was unveiled in Fall of 2019. Each provides a blueprint with comprehensive goals to ensure the continuing success of Huskie Athletics while upholding the core values and commitment to the department’s mission.
Frazier and his team have hired 19 new head coaches in 14 different sports since July 2013 with new women’s basketball head coach Jacey Brooks becoming the latest addition in April 2025. Men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno came on board in March 2021 while NIU alumnus Thomas Hammock returned to DeKalb to lead the Huskie football program in January 2019. In addition, Frazier has hired new leaders for the NIU women’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, volleyball and gymnastics teams during his tenure.
The Long Island, N.Y. native made football scheduling a top priority, signing home-and-home football agreements with San Diego State, BYU, Utah, Maryland, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Boston College and South Florida. Boston College’s appearance at Huskie Stadium to open the 2017 season was the first by an ACC team since 2003 and NIU welcomed Utah, the first Pac 12 team to play on the Huskies’ home turf, on Sept. 8, 2018. Since 2021, NIU has played Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Nebraska and Kentucky, with future games inked with Mississippi State, Iowa and Ohio State.
In addition to his work with NACDA, Frazier is a past president of MOAA, earning that organization’s Distinguished Service Award in 2014. In 2021, he joined the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee College Sports Sustainability Think Tank which convened leaders from across the collegiate, Olympic and Paralympic landscape. He has written numerous papers, presented on topics of diversity, leadership and hiring at national meetings and served on many NCAA committees.
University of Wisconsin (2007-2013)
A former football student-athlete at the University of Alabama, Frazier has 25 years of overall experience as a director of athletics at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels, as an administrator at two Division I universities, as a coach and as a student-athlete. Prior to NIU, Frazier spent six years in senior leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin and was promoted to deputy director of athletics in 2011, Frazier's duties grew to include managing all day-to-day internal and external operations for Badger Athletics and serving as UW's Deputy AD and Chief of Staff to Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez.
Frazier oversaw all fundraising and advancement activities at UW, including the annual fund, major gifts, suites and club seats, endowments, multimedia rights, ticket operations and alumni affairs. During his tenure at Wisconsin, he served as the administrator for three revenue-producing sports (football, men's basketball and men's ice hockey), providing direct support to the football program that won three consecutive Big Ten Conference Championships. Along with three Rose Bowl appearances. Frazier also served as Chair of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Committee in 2011.
Frazier played a lead role in raising $123 million for multiple capital projects at UW, including a $31 million hockey/swim facility, an $86 million student-athlete performance center and a $3.5 million softball indoor practice facility.
Merrimack College, Clarkson University, Manhattanville College (1999-2007)
Prior to Wisconsin, Frazier served as Director of Athletics at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., was the Director of Athletics and Recreation at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y. and led the athletics and recreation department at Division III Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. His accomplishments in eight years as an athletic director ranged from negotiating television agreements, establishing departmental policies and procedures, revamping logos and branding, overseeing facility enhancements, increasing revenue streams by creating fundraising groups, adding sports programs and cultivating successful sports programs.
Coach and Administrator
Frazier began his administrative career at the University of Maine as an assistant football coach in 1995 and was soon tabbed as the athletic department's multicultural affairs liaison. He was named assistant to the athletic director in 1996 and became an assistant athletic director in 1998. In that role, he provided administrative support to Maine's 1999 National Championship men's ice hockey team.
A Long Island, N.Y. native, he played four years of college football at the University of Alabama from 1987-91 and was a member of the 1989 SEC Championship team. He has written numerous papers, presented on topics of leadership and hiring at national meetings and served on many NCAA committees.
Frazier earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Alabama, and has a master's degree in higher education/educational leadership from the University of Maine. He earned a second master’s degree in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is pursuing a doctorate in the same discipline.
He and his wife, Rosa, an accomplished lawyer and former law professor, have three children, daughters Marina and Marcella, and son Maximo.
