Dan Bartholomae will be the next athletic director for Michigan State University, the school announced on Monday.
The former vice president and director of athletics at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Bartholomae, will now lead the Spartan athletic department as vice president and athletic director. Bartholomae is replacing J Batt, who left on July 28, 2026, for the University for Kentucky. Jon Palumbo has been serving as interim AD since July 10.
Bartholomae was hired to lead WMU athletics in January 2022 after working for Oregon State University for five years.
During his tenure at WMU, the Broncos won 37 conference championships, made 35 NCAA postseason appearances, had 17 All-Americans, 38 conference of the year/specialty award recipients, and saw the first MAC Hermann Award finalist in school history, according to his WMU profile.
Here’s more on the new athletic director for MSU:
MSU has hired Dan Bartholomae as the new athletic director. Who is he?
Bartholomae, a Pittsburgh native, earned a bachelor of science degree in policy analysis and public affairs from Indiana University, and a master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Lauren, have two children.
In the spring of 2017, Bartholomae was hired as the executive deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Oregon State University.
Before OSU, he spent time in his hometown working for the University of Pittsburgh athletics for 15 years, where he served as the deputy athletic director for internal affairs. Also during that period, Bartholomae served as the president of the National Association for Athletics Compliance in 2015-16.
Bartholomae started worked for WMU in January 2022, and stayed there for about four years.
“…Bartholomae has re-written the record books at Western Michigan after just over four years of unprecedented success,” according to his profile on WMU’s website. “With multiple record setting years in academic performance and community engagement, conference and national championships, and unprecedented fundraising and external revenue growth, Bartholomae has been recognized as one of the country’s best Athletic Directors by multiple organizations, including as a finalist for the prestigious Sports Business Journal 2026 Athletic Director of the Year.”
How did Bartholomae do at Western Michigan University?
Here are some highlights from Bartholomae’s stay at WMU, according to his profile:
Bartholomae’s first day at MSU will be Monday, Aug. 31. The MSU Board of Trustees will formally approve Bartholomae’s contract at its Sept. 11 meeting.
Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State hires Dan Bartholomae as AD. Who is he?
Reporting by Sarah Moore, USA TODAY NETWORK / Lansing State Journal
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By Sarah Moore, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
