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153 PAC-12 HISTORY // 2015 PAC-12 FOOTBALL MEDIA GUIDE PAC-12 CONFERENCE CHRIS DAWSON • Associate Commissioner, Sports Management Chris Dawson was named Assistant Commissioner of Olympic Sports in August 2001 and was promoted to Associate Commissioner in February of 2006. She is the Conference liaison for women's basketball, men's soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and softball. Dawson is also responsible for administering the of!ciating policy. She currently serves on the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee as well as the NCAA Division I Awards, Bene!ts, Expenses and Financial Aid Cabinet. Prior to joining the Pac-12, Dawson spent 23 years at the University of California as the Associate Athletic Director for Sport Programs and Senior Women's Administrator from 1992 to 2001. She was named Assistant Athletic Director for the Cal Women's Athletic Department in 1989 and was the Sports Information Director for the women's department from 1979-89. Dawson served as the chair of the NCAA Championships & Competition Cabinet, and as a member of the NCAA Strategic Planning Cabinet, the NCAA Soccer Rules Committee, the NCAA Woman of the Year Committee and the NCAA Volleyball Committee. Dawson is a 1975 honors graduate of the University of Virginia where she was a student-athlete in basketball. She earned a master's degree in education, with emphasis in sport administration from Ohio University in 1979. DAVE HIRSCH • Vice President, Communications Dave Hirsch has been with the Pac-12 since 1995 and was promoted to Vice President, Communications in June 2010. His responsibilities include administering the Conference marketing and communications programs with particular emphasis in football and men's basketball. Hirsch serves as the Media Operations Director for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game and the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament. Prior to joining the Pac-12, Hirsch was a member of the University of Arizona media relations staff (1988-1995) where he was Coordi- nator of Information Services. In that role, he was director of media operations for the Wildcats' nationally-ranked basketball team. He has received numerous citations for excellence in publications by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). From 1998-2007, Hirsch worked with the Tournament of Roses Association, serving as the Assistant Media Coordinator for the Rose Bowl Game. Hirsch is a 1986 graduate of the University of Arizona and was a member of the Wildcat baseball team for two years. DUANE LINDBERG • Associate Commissioner, Television Duane Lindberg returned to the Pac-12 staff for his second tour of duty in 1991 as Assistant Commissioner for Electronic Communi- cations, and was promoted to Associate Commissioner, Television in February of 2006. His job duties include overseeing the Conference television agreements. Lindberg spent 1989-91 at the Southwest Conference in Dallas as Assistant Commissioner overseeing the Conference's compliance program. His !rst stint at the Pac-12 saw him serve as Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Enforcement in 1989, Assistant to the Commissioner from 1986-89, and Assistant Public Relations Director from 1983-86. He previously served two-and-one-half years as Assistant SID at USC. A Tacoma, Wash., native, Lindberg has both undergraduate (1979) and master's (1981) degrees from the University of Washington. RON BARKER • Associate Commissioner, Governance & Enforcement Ron Barker joined the Pac-12 as Assistant Commissioner for Governance and Enforcement in October of 2001 and was promoted to Associate Commissioner in February of 2006. His job duties include administering the Conference's enforcement and NCAA governance programs and working with the Faculty Athletic Representative group as well as managing the hardship petitions. Prior to joining the Pac-12, Barker served as an enforcement representative for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (1999- 2001). He has also been an investigator for the Legal Department of Novell, Inc. of Provo, Utah (1992-99) and served as a graduate as- sistant basketball coach at Brigham Young University (1989-91). A former professional basketball player for Deportivo Luqueño (Paraguay), Barker is a 1987 graduate of California State University, Long Beach. He earned his master's degree in sports administration from BYU in 1991. He and his wife, Heidi, have four children. ERIK HARDENBERGH • Vice President, Public Affairs Erik Hardenbergh joined the Pac-12 as the Vice President of Public Affairs in July 2012. Hardenbergh leads the development and ex- ecution of public relations plans and strategies promoting the interests and reputation of the Pac-12 and Pac-12 Networks. Hardenbergh plays a pivotal role in enhancing the Conference's visibility at local, national and global levels. Most recently, Hardenbergh spent four years as the Vice President of the Glover Park Group in Washington, D.C., where he developed strategic messaging platforms and coordinated integrated campaigns for companies including JPMorgan Chase and United Technologies. Hardenbergh has also worked for several sports media outlets including Yahoo! Sports, Fox Sports Northwest and ABC Sports. Hardenbergh holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Amherst College, where he was an Academic All-American and cap- tained the golf team for three years. Hardenbergh also earned an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. WILL HUNTER • Vice President, Operations Will Hunter joined the Pac-12 in July 2012 as the Vice President of Operations and oversees the development, operation and coordina- tion of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game and Men's Basketball Tournament. Hunter came to the Pac-12 after three years as the Event Operations Manager for Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX where he managed major events such as Super Bowl XLV, the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Big 12 Football Championship and Cotton Bowl Classic. Hunter man- aged over 100 events at Cowboys Stadium for a combined total attendance of over two million guests. In addition to managing operations and logistics for events, he was heavily involved in sponsorship activation at Cowboys Stadium. Hunter's previous experience includes stops with the NFL League Of!ce in New York and the Scottish Claymores (NFL Europe) in Glasgow, Scotland. Hunter earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Wofford College, where he captained the football team.