Dr. Gary F. Karner was named commissioner of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in June 1996 following eight-years as a member of the NCAA national office staff and retired in 2020 as the longest serving commissioner in conference history.

During Karner’s tenure, the WIAC captured 76 NCAA Division III National Championships—a number that surpasses the total number of championships won by all but one of the other 43 DIII conferences in their respective histories. An additional 501 WIAC student-athletes captured NCAA individual titles over the past 23 years.

Equally impressive, if not more so, were the hundreds of WIAC student-athletes who earned Academic All-American recognition, 16 NCAA Elite 90 Award winners and the conference’s commitment to community service, particularly in support of Special Olympics. Beginning wtih Karner’s arrival in 1996, five of the seven NCAA Top Ten Award honorees from the State of Wisconsin were WIAC student-athletes.

Karner served on the NCAA DIII Interpretations/Legislation and DIII Baseball committees as well as innumerable NCAA and DIII commissioner ad hoc committees, task forces and working groups. He formed what is believed to be the first regional coalition of DIII conferences for the purpose of sharing best practices and collaborating on matters of mutual interest.

Other notable accomplishments by Karner were the establishment of the WIAC Corporate Partner Program generating over $1 million in revenue for the conference, the WIAC Hall of Fame, the WIAC Centennial Celebration, the WIAC Foundation, the WIAC Student-Athlete Leadership Institute, the annual men’s and women’s basketball exhibition games vs. the Wisconsin Badgers and, the WIAC Administrative Internship Program—a program that has provided invaluable practical experience to nearly 60 students aspiring to become athletics administrators.

Karner served as the president of the National Association of DIII Athletics Administrators (NADIIIAA) in 2002-2003 and established the NADIIIAA/Jostens Community Service Award which is still presented today to recognize outstanding community service activities performed by DIII student-athletes. He also served on the board of directors of the DIII Commissioner’s Association from 2000-2003.

Karner was selected as an Outstanding Commissioner of the Year by the All-American Football Foundation in 2007. He is also the 2011 recipient of the DIII Commissioner’s Association Meritorious Service Award, as well as the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of DIII Athletics Administrators (NADIIIAA) in 2003 and 2011. Karner was named a Sports Ethics Fellow in 2005 by the Institute for International Sport.  He was inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2022 and received the NADIIIAA Richard A. Rasmussen Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

In addition to his commissioner duties, Karner served as an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Edgewood College and on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation and Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Karner earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1975 and master’s and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978 and 1984, respectively.

Karner retired to Durango, Colorado along with his wife Judy in 2020.   Soon thereafter, Karner was coaxed out of retirement to serve as the Special Assistant to the Athletics Director at Fort Lewis College.  Karner (re)retired in December 2024.