Just 37 years old when he was appointed Utah’s director of athletics, Dr. Chris Hill led the school’s athletics programs to unprecedented success during his 31-year career from 1987 to 2018. He was the longest same-school, actively tenured athletics director in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

Hill’s most monumental accomplishment was spearheading Utah’s move to the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. In their first seven seasons in the “Conference of Champions,” the Utes won four Pac-12 championships (three in gymnastics and one in baseball) and a South Division co-championship in football. Utah won 10 NCAA team championships under Hill’s directorship (six by the ski team, and four by the gymnastics team) and placed second in the nation 16 times. Runner-up finishes included the men’s basketball team, which played in the 1998 national championship game, and a No. 2 final ranking by the football team in 2008 for a 13-0 season and a win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Three Hill hires won National Coach of the Year honors: football coaches Urban Meyer (2004) and Kyle Whittingham (2008), and men’s basketball coach Rick Majerus (1998).

Hill changed the face of the University of Utah campus by fundraising for the construction of 16 new intercollegiate athletic facilities, including Rice-Eccles Stadium, Burbidge Athletics Academic Center, McCarthey Family Track & Field Complex, Dumke Family Softball Stadium, Spence & Cleone Eccles Football Center, Sorensen High Performance Center and Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Center among others.

The football team, which had not played in a bowl in the 22 years preceding Hill’s appointment as athletics director, went 14-4 in bowl games during his term. Utah’s other athletic programs also thrived under his leadership. The men’s basketball team played in 15 NCAA Tournaments—advancing to the Sweet 16 six times and the Elite Eight twice. In 1998, the Runnin’ Utes played Kentucky for the NCAA Championship. The women’s basketball team also made 15 NCAA appearances, playing in the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight once. The gymnastics team made 21 NCAA Super Six appearances while qualifying for the NCAA Championships all 31 years with Hill as AD—and the ski team finished first or second in the nation 15 times under his watch.

Hill served on several national boards, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee (2004 to 2009), chair of the NCAA Championships/Competition Cabinet (1997 to 1998) and the NCAA Management Council Administrative Committee. He was on NACDA’s executive committee from 2002 to 2006.