Joel Nielsen

Joel Nielsen begins his seventh year as athletic director at South Dakota. Nielsen assumed his duties at The U in December, 2003.

During his tenure at South Dakota, Nielsen, 46, has provided leadership in the U’s transition to Division I.

He secured membership for USD football in the Great West Football Conference in 2007 and will lead the Coyotes into membership in the Summit League for all sports except football starting in 2011. Nielsen also played an active role in the organization/creation of the Great West Conference for all sports. Nielsen works closely with the USD Foundation in developing strategic fundraising models that will provide the necessary resources for the Division I transition. He also serves on the following committees; Campus Facilities, Wellness Center, Gender Equity Oversight and the Athletic Board of Control.

Nielsen is responsible for making significant changes and introducing new departmental initiatives since 2003. He worked closely with the Athletic Review Committee in initiating a progressive and comprehensive plan for South Dakota Athletics, addressing competitiveness, funding and compliance. Nielsen worked with The U’s administration and an external licensing company to develop a new athletics logo and trademark program. He also spearheaded the relationship with Daktronics Sports Marketing to bring a $2 million scoreboard enhancement to the DakotaDome. Before taking over at USD, Nielsen served as Athletic Director at Colorado College overseeing a 20-sport athletic program, which included two sports (men’s ice hockey and women’s soccer) at the Division I level.

From 1993 to 2001, Nielsen was the associate athletic director at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was in charge of the administration and management of the athletic department’s external relations. Prior to Wake Forest, he was an assistant athletic director at Illinois State in Normal, Ill. (1991-92) and served as an athletic development assistant at Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill. (1990-91).

A doctoral candidate (Leadership and Educational Policy Studies) at Northern Illinois, Nielsen earned a B.S. degree in business finance (1985) and a M.A. degree in sports administration (1991), both from Minnesota State University, Mankato. At MSU, Nielsen played football and baseball before becoming a graduate assistant (1989-90) for head football coach Dan Runkle.

He and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters: Kasey, 12; Kelly, 12; and Kory, 10.

South Dakota Athletic Directors Since 1926
L.B. Allison, 1923-28
S.B. Backman, 1928-35
Carl “Rube” Hoy, 1935-56
Ralph “Boot” Stewart, 1957-61
John Roning, 1961 – 1971
Carl Miller, 1971-76
Beanie Cooper, 1976-81
Bobby Thompson, 1981-82
Jack Doyle, 1983 – 1998 (Doyle was acting AD in 1982)
Kelly Higgins, 1998-2003 (Greg Redlin, Interim AD)
Joel Nielsen, 2003-