Iowa State Media Relations
AMES, Iowa – Dr. Calli Sanders, who has served as Iowa State University’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sport Administration and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) since 2003, has decided to initiate a phased retirement plan that will allow her to transition into a part-time position as Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard, on July 1st.
“Calli Sanders has been responsible for hiring several of our most successful coaches over the years and has been an integral part of our department’s leadership team for more than two decades,” Pollard said. “She has always been someone I trusted with any challenge or issue involving our student-athletes, and she has had an influential voice with her Big 12 colleagues over the years. Her dedication to our student-athletes and their successes has been second to none, and while we will certainly miss having her serve in a leadership role for our department, we are excited that we can still utilize Calli’s expertise and experience on an as needed basis for special projects that may arise over the next two years. That will be very important given many of the transformational changes facing our industry and program.”
Only the second individual to hold the SWA position to the Big 12 Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) within the Cyclone Athletics Department, Sanders currently has administrative oversight for 15 of Iowa State’s 18 intercollegiate athletic programs and serves as an ex-officio member of the Iowa State Athletics Council.
The teams under Sanders’ supervision have risen to national prominence during her Iowa State tenure while combining to win 17 of ISU’s 31 all-time Big 12 Conference championships. The Cyclone women’s basketball, tennis and volleyball teams have all advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight; the softball team made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021; while the gymnastics, cross country, track & field and both men’s and women’s golf teams have all reached their respective national tournament championship sites under her leadership.
“When hired to come to Iowa State over two decades ago, I could not have dreamed I would enjoy such a long and fulfilling career in Ames, get to work with such incredible people, and raise our children as lifelong Cyclones,” Sanders said. “It has been a privilege to be part of such a dedicated team of administrators, coaches, and staff while enjoying countless achievements by our student-athletes. I frequently told people I had the best job in the country, and I am truly grateful to Jamie and all of the people I have worked with over the years who made that possible.
“I look forward to remaining involved in a new capacity - supporting Jamie and our team with this transition and other special projects - while enjoying more time with our grown children and grandson, traveling, and pursuing other personal interests,” she added. Though this chapter is closing, my love for Iowa State never will - I'm a Cyclone for life."
Sanders began her athletics administrative career in Sports Information at American University (1987-88). From there, she spent 10 years (1988-97) at UAB in the roles of Sports Information, Compliance Coordinator, Assistant Athletics Director, and Associate Athletics Director. Sanders was instrumental in helping UAB establish both a Football Bowl Subdivision program and a women’s soccer program from scratch while instituting the school’s first compliance and academic units. She concurrently served as the Blazers’ head women’s golf coach (1994-96).
After a decade of service to UAB, Sanders returned to her native state of Montana in 1997 as Montana State’s Associate Athletics Director, where she worked until 2001. She supervised nine Bobcat programs and four department units before stepping away from athletics briefly to serve as the University of Maine’s Associate Dean of Students (2002-03).
Active on numerous NCAA and Big 12 committees throughout her career, Sanders served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee (1999-2001) and chaired the West Regional advisory and Final Four site selection committees. She has directed several NCAA Tournament rounds and assisted with operations at the Women’s Basketball Final Fours in 2000 and 2001.
Sanders has served on the Big 12’s television, legislation, ethical conduct, administrative and gender equity committees and has chaired the Big 12’s SWA governance group three times. She was a peer reviewer for the NCAA certification program and served on the editorial board ofAthletic Management magazine. Sanders also taught a “Gender Issues in Sports” class at Iowa State from 2012 through 2023 and served as the school’s Deputy Title IX Director for many years.
She earned an undergraduate degree in communications from Montana (1986), a master’s in education from UAB (1990) and a doctorate in higher education administration from Montana State (2004). Sanders also completed the Sports Management Institute’s executive program in 2002 at Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.
Calli and her husband, Rick, who has led the ISU Research Park as President and Director since 2019, have three grown children. Theisen (fiancée, Veronica) is an Iowa State graduate and works as a software engineer in Chicago; Jack (wife, Blair; son, Luka), is an Iowa State graduate, owning/operating a start-up technology company in Ames; and Molly, a former basketball player and Commissioned Officer at the United States Naval Academy, works in Public Affairs and is stationed at the Pentagon.
AMES, Iowa – Dr. Calli Sanders, who has served as Iowa State University’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sport Administration and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) since 2003, has decided to initiate a phased retirement plan that will allow her to transition into a part-time position as Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard, on July 1st.
“Calli Sanders has been responsible for hiring several of our most successful coaches over the years and has been an integral part of our department’s leadership team for more than two decades,” Pollard said. “She has always been someone I trusted with any challenge or issue involving our student-athletes, and she has had an influential voice with her Big 12 colleagues over the years. Her dedication to our student-athletes and their successes has been second to none, and while we will certainly miss having her serve in a leadership role for our department, we are excited that we can still utilize Calli’s expertise and experience on an as needed basis for special projects that may arise over the next two years. That will be very important given many of the transformational changes facing our industry and program.”
Only the second individual to hold the SWA position to the Big 12 Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) within the Cyclone Athletics Department, Sanders currently has administrative oversight for 15 of Iowa State’s 18 intercollegiate athletic programs and serves as an ex-officio member of the Iowa State Athletics Council.
The teams under Sanders’ supervision have risen to national prominence during her Iowa State tenure while combining to win 17 of ISU’s 31 all-time Big 12 Conference championships. The Cyclone women’s basketball, tennis and volleyball teams have all advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight; the softball team made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021; while the gymnastics, cross country, track & field and both men’s and women’s golf teams have all reached their respective national tournament championship sites under her leadership.
“When hired to come to Iowa State over two decades ago, I could not have dreamed I would enjoy such a long and fulfilling career in Ames, get to work with such incredible people, and raise our children as lifelong Cyclones,” Sanders said. “It has been a privilege to be part of such a dedicated team of administrators, coaches, and staff while enjoying countless achievements by our student-athletes. I frequently told people I had the best job in the country, and I am truly grateful to Jamie and all of the people I have worked with over the years who made that possible.
“I look forward to remaining involved in a new capacity - supporting Jamie and our team with this transition and other special projects - while enjoying more time with our grown children and grandson, traveling, and pursuing other personal interests,” she added. Though this chapter is closing, my love for Iowa State never will - I'm a Cyclone for life."
Sanders began her athletics administrative career in Sports Information at American University (1987-88). From there, she spent 10 years (1988-97) at UAB in the roles of Sports Information, Compliance Coordinator, Assistant Athletics Director, and Associate Athletics Director. Sanders was instrumental in helping UAB establish both a Football Bowl Subdivision program and a women’s soccer program from scratch while instituting the school’s first compliance and academic units. She concurrently served as the Blazers’ head women’s golf coach (1994-96).
After a decade of service to UAB, Sanders returned to her native state of Montana in 1997 as Montana State’s Associate Athletics Director, where she worked until 2001. She supervised nine Bobcat programs and four department units before stepping away from athletics briefly to serve as the University of Maine’s Associate Dean of Students (2002-03).
Active on numerous NCAA and Big 12 committees throughout her career, Sanders served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee (1999-2001) and chaired the West Regional advisory and Final Four site selection committees. She has directed several NCAA Tournament rounds and assisted with operations at the Women’s Basketball Final Fours in 2000 and 2001.
Sanders has served on the Big 12’s television, legislation, ethical conduct, administrative and gender equity committees and has chaired the Big 12’s SWA governance group three times. She was a peer reviewer for the NCAA certification program and served on the editorial board ofAthletic Management magazine. Sanders also taught a “Gender Issues in Sports” class at Iowa State from 2012 through 2023 and served as the school’s Deputy Title IX Director for many years.
She earned an undergraduate degree in communications from Montana (1986), a master’s in education from UAB (1990) and a doctorate in higher education administration from Montana State (2004). Sanders also completed the Sports Management Institute’s executive program in 2002 at Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.
Calli and her husband, Rick, who has led the ISU Research Park as President and Director since 2019, have three grown children. Theisen (fiancée, Veronica) is an Iowa State graduate and works as a software engineer in Chicago; Jack (wife, Blair; son, Luka), is an Iowa State graduate, owning/operating a start-up technology company in Ames; and Molly, a former basketball player and Commissioned Officer at the United States Naval Academy, works in Public Affairs and is stationed at the Pentagon.
