Bill Scholl

Bill Scholl, who owns over 35 years of experience and success in administration at the collegiate level, was named Vice President and Director of Athletics at Marquette University in 2014.

During his time at Marquette, the department has seen a great deal of success and growth. In 2019, the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center (AHPRC) opened, which houses offices, locker rooms and team space for golf and men's and women's lacrosse. The building also includes a state-of-the-art indoor training facility for men’s golf, a weight room and additional space for faculty researchers from a variety of academic fields, in addition to a centralized core of laboratories for conducting human performance research. The department is currently in the fundraising stage for phase 2 of the AHPRC which is projected to include state-of-the-art men’s basketball practice facilities, sports medicine space for student-athletes and locker rooms for Olympic sport teams.

With Scholl’s guidance, over $10 million dollars have been raised for the various Sports Excellence Funds, which guarantee the provision of ongoing support and ensure Marquette Athletics has the means to deliver exceptional student and staff experiences no matter the circumstance. These funds offer Marquette Athletics the flexibility to pursue emerging priorities or unexpected opportunities as well as address urgent needs.

On the field, under Scholl’s leadership, Marquette has won 16 team championships and was the winner of the 2016-17 BIG EAST President’s Cup for the first time in program history.

Marquette student-athletes also excel in the classroom. This past year saw 256 student-athletes being named to the BIG EAST All-Academic team which recognizes student-athletes that have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.  The overall student-athlete GPA for the 2023-24 academic year was 3.46. The student-athlete Graduation Success Rate for the year was 97% which is higher than the national average of 90%. Eight teams posted a perfect APR score of 1,000 for the year.

Scholl arrived in Milwaukee after most recently serving as Director of Athletics at Ball State from 2012 to 2014, during which eight programs reached the postseason and 13 teams placed either first or second in the Mid-American Conference.

Under Scholl’s leadership at Ball State, student-athletes also saw success in the classroom, with 14 teams scoring better than the national Division 1 average in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report baseline.

Prior to his term at Ball State, Scholl served 23 years at Notre Dame, where he finished as deputy athletics directly. He was responsible for administration of men’s basketball, football, baseball and men’s soccer, as well as fund-raining and donor relations, budgeting and growing external revenue. Scholl collaborated with the university’s advancement office to lead the athletics department in an $84 million athletics fund-raising initiative for the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign.

Early in his career, Scholl held leadership positions in service-driven organizations. He was the former director of financial development for the 1987 International Summer Special Olympics Games. He served in the same position for one year at South Bend’s Logan Center, which offers services to persons with developmental disabilities. While working for Special Olympics, he raised in excess of $8 million for the 1987 games.

Scholl earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies in 1979 from Notre Dame. He and his wife, Julie, have three children: Michael (a 2009 Notre Dame graduate), Stefanie (a 2012 Ball State graduate) and Kelly (a 2014 Notre Dame graduate).