Dr. Daniel F. Mahony – Biography
Unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees at its December 2019 meeting, Dr. Daniel F. Mahony began his tenure as the 10th president of the Southern Illinois University System on March 1, 2020. Bringing his student-focused, transparent and data-driven style to the SIU campuses, Dr. Mahony began his tenure by signing the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Pledge to foster an even greater sense of openness and respect for others as president of the multi-campus university system.
Before coming to the SIU system, Mahony served as President of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina from 2015 to 2020. While there, he initiated a campus-wide effort to create a strategic plan that focused the university’s attention on becoming a national model for a student-centered university experience while adjusting to the changing realities of higher education. Prior to his tenure at Winthrop, Mahony spent seven years as dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Services and a professor of sport management at Kent State University in Ohio. While in this role, Dr. Mahony developed the college's strategic plan and reorganization which led to increases in both enrollment and retention.
Dr. Mahony also spent 13 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Louisville where his positions included sport administration program director, department chair, associate dean, assistant provost, and associate provost. In these roles, he had a variety of responsibilities including strategic planning, student learning assessment, program review, budget management, and accreditation.
Prior to his faculty and administrative positions, Dr. Mahony worked in both public accounting and intercollegiate athletics. He earned a B.S. in accounting from Virginia Tech, an M.S. in sport management from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in sport management from Ohio State University. He is an active researcher in the areas of sport consumer behavior and intercollegiate athletics and has published more than 60 articles in various refereed journals, several book chapters, and one book.
Dr. Mahony received the 2007 Earle F. Zeigler Award from the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) for his research contributions to the field. He is a NASSM Research Fellow and served as the association's president from 2003-2004. He was the recipient of the 2015 McInnis/Ryan Award from the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA), which recognized his principled and ethical leadership practices, and his scholarship regarding issues of justice and ethics in college, high school and professional sport. He was the inaugural recipient of the Daniel Mahony Award for Social Responsibility from the Office of Diversity Outreach and Development in Kent State University's College of Education, Health and Human Services. In 2018, Mahony received the Academic Achievement in Sport and Entertainment Award from Sport and Entertainment Venues Tomorrow. He is the 2020 recipient of the Charles Whitcomb Service Award given by the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) which acknowledges individuals who foster diversity and inclusion within the intercollegiate athletics community. Dr. Mahony also is a member of his college's Hall of Fame at West Virginia University and Pi Kappa Alpha's Order of the West Range.
Originally from Clinton, New Jersey, Dr. Mahony has been married for more than 25 years to wife Laura, with whom he has two children, son Gavin and daughter Elena.
