Athletic Director Dan Guerrero to Retire

Faculty and Staff

Chancellor Block sent the following message to the UCLA campus community.

Dan Guerrero, who has led UCLA Athletics for the past 17 years, has informed me that he will retire as director of athletics on July 1, 2020, at the conclusion of the 2019–20 academic year.

I appreciate Dan’s dedication to our campus, fans and student-athletes throughout his career at UCLA. A proud alumnus, Dan has helped lead our teams to numerous victories, while also demonstrating a commitment to advancing women’s opportunities in athletics, maintaining high academic standards for student-athletes and keeping UCLA programs in compliance with NCAA and other requirements. He has also overseen the construction of new facilities and upgrades to existing ones for the benefit of our student-athletes and our fans.

A national search for UCLA’s next director of athletics will be conducted by a professional search firm to be identified this fall. Although Dan’s current contract expires in December, he has agreed to remain in his post until the end of the upcoming academic year, at my request, in order to maintain continuity in the program and to allow adequate time to identify a replacement.

Since his appointment to the post in 2002, our teams have won 32 NCAA team championships in 15 sports — the most under any standing NCAA Division I athletic director — and today UCLA ranks second in the nation with 118 NCAA titles. Also during Dan’s tenure, Bruins won 73 conference championships in 16 sports and produced more than 800 All-Americans. Our football team appeared in 13 bowl games, while the men’s basketball team advanced to consecutive Final Fours from 2006 to 2008 and made six trips to the Sweet 16.

Dan has also helped our student-athletes achieve academic success, and I am proud that UCLA Athletics’ Graduation Success Rate is currently at an all-time high of 90 percent, while our Academic Progress Rates remain among the highest in the country.

He successfully negotiated major long-term apparel and rightsholder contracts with Under Armour and WME-IMG College that were the largest collegiate deals nationally in their respective areas at the time. Dan also led the negotiations that solidified our relationship with the Rose Bowl, resulting in substantial renovations and restoration of the home of UCLA Football. He also spearheaded a renovation of historic Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom and construction of the Wasserman Football Center and the Mo Ostin Basketball Center.

Dan was the first athletic director at the NCAA Division I level to earn three Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year awards, during his career at UCLA and previously at UC Irvine, from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He was named one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated in 2003 and one of the nation’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine in 2004. He has also served on numerous boards and committees throughout his career.

As a student-athlete, Dan played second base for the Bruins for four years and was inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Before returning to UCLA, Dan served as athletic director at UC Irvine and, earlier, at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Please join me in thanking Dan for his service and dedication to UCLA.

  • Gene D. BlockChancellor