Matt Elliott has been named the next director of athletics at the University of Hawai‘i. He brings more than a decade of experience in Division I athletics administration, including 13 years at UCLA. Most recently, he served as chief strategy officer, where he led the department’s transition from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten and developed a five-year strategic plan. Previously, as senior associate athletics director, his responsibilities included sport oversight, legal affairs, NIL policy, government relations, head coach searches, compliance, and oversight of athletic performance and sports medicine. He also helped negotiate a $280 million shoe and apparel agreement, the largest in college athletics history.
Elliott and his ‘ohana returned to Hawai‘i in 2022. Since 2024, he has served as senior director of policy and public affairs at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, leading advocacy strategies and working closely with state and local leaders. Originally from Framingham, Massachusetts, Elliott earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, where he competed on the varsity crew team, and a Juris Doctor with honors from Northwestern University School of Law. He moved to Hawai‘i in 2005 to clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Alan C. Kay, where he met his wife, Allison, a Hawai‘i native and graduate of Punahou School and Occidental College, beginning a nearly two-decade connection to the islands.