Dr. Heather L. Hunter has over 25 years’ experience in athletics and higher education. She is currently the Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator for UC Davis Athletics. Heather oversees Broadcast, Student-Athlete Advising, and Facilities, Operations and Events as well as the university’s compliance with Title IX/Gender Equity. She led strategic planning for the department and is responsible for conference governance (Big Sky/Big West). Heather is the sports supervisor for Equestrian, Indoor Volleyball and Men’s Basketball. She was a member of the UC Davis Athletics Board for five years before taking a full-time position within the department.
Prior to moving to UC Davis Athletics, Heather was leading a university-wide corporate partnership program, UC Davis Preferred Partnership Program, for over five years. She established and executed a comprehensive campus-wide strategy for securing business partnerships that align with the UC Davis mission. Heather negotiated the first corporate partnership naming rights for the campus with University Credit Union and she collaborated with other University of California campuses for the first multi-campus partnership with Farmers Insurance. In 2015, Heather joined UC Davis as the Associate Executive Director and Chief Revenue Officer for the Cal Aggie Alumni Association overseeing business partnerships, membership, wine, and travel programs.
Before UC Davis, Heather served as the Account Director for GMR Marketing where she led the $25M+ North America and Latin America sports sponsorship portfolio for global SAP. SAP’s sponsorships included the NFL, NBA, San Francisco 49ers/Levi’s Stadium, San Jose Sharks/SAP Center, MetLife Stadium, Madison Square Garden, golf, tennis, sailing, Cirque de Soleil, and Tribeca Film Festival. She also managed NetApp’s NFL business and worked on special projects for Global Sports & Entertainment Consulting.
Prior to GMR, Heather worked for Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) for 11+ years leading the sponsorship service team who were responsible for managing over 100 corporate partners across the SSE portfolio. The SSE property portfolio included the San Jose Sharks (NHL), HP Pavilion, SAP Open (ATP), San Jose Stealth (NLL), San Jose Earthquakes (MLS), PGA Tour Champions, Fight Night at the Tank (Boxing) and Sharks Ice (Practice Facility). She also led the naming rights partnerships for HP and SAP and was a member of the board of directors for the Sharks Foundation.
Heather began her career on University of California campuses. She was a Marketing Coordinator for Cal Athletics, where she developed and implemented comprehensive marketing programs for Cal Athletics and managed fifteen corporate sponsor accounts including Bank of the West, Toyota, and Ford. Prior to Cal, Heather was an assistant softball coach for two seasons at UC Davis managing the recruiting program. The team reached post-season both years and participated in the College World Series finishing third in the country.
Hunter was a four-year letter winner in softball at UC Davis and is a member of the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame. She is currently serving as Vice-Chair on University Credit Union’s Advisory Council.
