Gloria Nevarez is the second Commissioner of the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

(MW), having assumed that position from retiring MW commissioner.

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books ''Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), ''Blankets'' (2003), '' Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), '' Habibi'' (2011), and '' Space Dumplins'' (2015). Tho ...

on January 1, 2023. Before joining the MW, she had been the fourth full-time commissioner of the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC). Nevarez is the first Hispanic American to become a Commissioner of an NCAA Division I Conference. Prior to her duties as WCC commissioner, Nevarez served as a senior level administrator at the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, WCC,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

Education

A Bay Area native, Nevarez graduated from Santa Clara High School. Nevarez went on to attend the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

(UMass), where she was a scholarship student-athlete in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Nevarez graduated from UMass (cum laude) with a B.S. in Sports Management. After completion of her career at UMass, Nevarez attended the University of California, Berkeley, Law where she graduated with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

Career

Finishing the completion of her J.D. degree, Nevarez began a career at a law firm. After a brief time practicing law, Nevarez was hired as the first full-time Director of Compliance for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

. From there, Nevarez returned to her law school alma mater, joining the athletic program staff as the Assistant Athletics Director of Compliance and Legal Affairs, while also serving as the interim Senior Woman Administrator. Following that, Nevarez began a term as the Associate Commissioner and Senior Woman Administrator for the

for the next 5 years. In August 2007, Nevarez was named Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator at the

. In March 2010, Nevarez was named Senior Associate Commissioner and Senior Woman Administrator of the Pac-10 Conference, known since 2011 as the

. During her time at the Pac-12, Nevarez oversaw all sports and championships except football and was the leagues' point person for men's basketball. Additionally, Nevarez was instrumental in the Pac-12's expansion from ten institutions to twelve, the relocation of the men's basketball tournament in Las Vegas, and the women's basketball tournament in Seattle. She was the lead on various international trips to China and Australia taken by Pac-12 teams, notably, Nevarez was instrumental in assisting UCLA when three players were arrested in China for stealing. In March 2018, the

Presidents' Council selected Nevarez as the fourth full-time Commissioner to serve the

. In November 2022, the Mountain West Conference Board of Directors selected Nevarez as the new commissioner; she officially assumed her duties on January 1, 2023.

Personal

Nevarez is married to fellow University of California, Berkeley, Law graduate Richard Young. Additionally, Nevarez has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco teaching on topics in sports law. Her father is of Mexican descent and her mother is of mixed Filipina and Irish ancestry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevarez, Gloria Living people American sportspeople of Mexican descent Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) UMass Minutewomen basketball players Women sports executives and administrators Mountain West Conference commissioners West Coast Conference commissioners UC Berkeley School of Law alumni California lawyers University of California, Berkeley staff University of Oklahoma people Hispanic and Latino American sportspeople