Carnegie Mellon University Names Patrick Sterk Associate Director of Athletics

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Patrick Sterk will join the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation this summer as Associate Director of Athletics. Sterk, who most recently served as Senior Associate Director of Athletics at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, will begin his duties on July 6.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to add Patrick to the leadership team of our athletics department,” said Director of Athletics Josh Centor. “He has a wide range of administrative experiences within intercollegiate athletics, and has demonstrated a clear passion for working closely with students in support of their educational experience. Patrick is extremely talented and will bring a unique administrative skill set to our department.”

Since 2011, Sterk has served as an athletics administrator at UNC Pembroke. Following two years as Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance and Student Success, Sterk was named Interim Director of Athletics and led the department from November 2012 to April 2013. In July 2013, Sterk was promoted to Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, Business Operations, and Administration, and was responsible for oversight of the department’s internal operations and budgeting. During that time, he maintained his duties as UNCP’s compliance officer.

“I am thrilled and truly honored to be selected for the opportunity to join Carnegie Mellon University and to become a member of the Tartans,” Sterk said. “Carnegie Mellon has always been an outstanding institution and under the leadership of President Suresh, the university is strengthening its position as one of the premier universities in the world. Athletically, Josh Centor leads a talented and accomplished program and I cannot wait to get to campus and begin work with all of the coaches, staff, student-athletes and alumni at Carnegie Mellon.”

At Carnegie Mellon, Sterk will oversee the athletics department’s financial operations. He will also provide leadership for athletics communications, with a significant emphasis on marketing and branding. Sterk will manage the summer camps program and provide oversight for department technology. He will also work closely with Centor on revenue generation, development and alumni relations initiatives.

Prior to Sterk’s arrival at UNCP, he attended Marquette University, where he received his law degree in 2011. He was a member of the Marquette Sports Law Review, the Marquette Sports Law Society, and had an article published in the Sports Lawyers Journal regarding interscholastic athletics. Upon coming to UNCP, Sterk became the first full-time compliance officer within the athletics department.

While earning his law degree, Sterk worked as a law clerk at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Indianapolis in the summer of 2010. He later worked as a compliance intern at Lewis University.

Sterk graduated from University of Oklahoma in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in political science along with a double minor in history and architecture.  He was a national merit scholar, a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.