Western Michigan University Athletics

Vice President/Director of Athletics Dan Bartholomae took over Bronco Athletics on Jan. 1, 2022, after spending five years as the executive deputy athletic director at Oregon State University.  In his short tenure, Bartholomae has re-written the record books at Western Michigan after just over four years of unprecedented success.  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.

In leading a renewed strategic planning effort to start his career at WMU, Bartholomae unveiled the BRONCOS REIGN strategic plan for the department, one that established a vision of graduating athletes holistically prepared to pursue their passions in life; establishing high quality connections with the community; and winning conference championships.  With that vision as the guide, WMU has broken records in all three areas and experienced some of the most successful years in their history.

• Academically, the Broncos have re-set the GPA mark on multiple occasions during Bartholomae’s tenure, most recently setting a new academic year mark in 2025-26 with a 3.42 GPA and all programs above a 3.0.  They have also broken records annually in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate.  For their work, WMU swept the MAC Faculty Athletic Representative Awards across all men’s and women’s programs in 2023 for the first time in their history.  They have repeated as award recipients on the men’s side in 2024 and 2025.   In total, the Broncos have had 30 Academic All-Americans under Bartholomae’s tenure. 
• In support of student-athlete development, Bartholomae started the first stand-alone life skills program in WMU history in Broncos emPOWERed, a donor funded effort to support the holistic development and personal growth of Bronco Student-Athletes.  For his work in supporting student-athlete development, Bartholomae was named the 1-A MAC Administrator of the Year in 2024.
• In the community, the Broncos have led the MAC in four consecutive years in community service hours and broken school records all four of those years.  Their service record has been ranked in the top six in the country in back to back years.  In 2024, the Women’s Golf program was recognized by Helper Helper in as the national champion in service.  In June of 2025, the department was recognized by the Fiesta Bowl as a top 3 finalist for service impact.
• In competition, the Broncos have won an unprecedented 37 conference championships during Bartholomae’s short tenure.  Under his tenure, the Broncos broke the school record for team championships in 2023-24 with 13 as well as the record for NCAA postseason appearances in 2024-25 with 9 programs advancing to the post-season.  In 4 years, Western Michigan has won 37 conference championships, made 35 NCAA Postseason appearances, had 17 All-Americans, 38 Conference of the Year/Specialty Award recipients and had the first MAC Hermann Award Finalist in school history (Charlie Sharp). As a result of all the on-field successes, WMU led the MAC in the Learfield Director's Cup Standings for the first time in program history in 2023-24 and repeated again in 2024-25.

The Championship success culminated in the Men’s Ice Hockey’s first ever Division 1 NCAA National Championship – the first WMU National Championship in 60 years.  In three years, Bartholomae has overseen the program’s first ever NCAA tournament win (2022), first ever Penrose Cup Championship (2025) and first ever NCHC Tournament Championship (2025).  They followed this in Fall of 2025 with the school’s fourth MAC Football Conference Championship, becoming only the 3^rd program in NCAA Division I history to achieve both a hockey national championship and a FBS conference championship in the same calendar year.
In rejuvenating the football program, Bartholomae hired Louisville Offensive Coordinator Lance Taylor, who has already secured the school’s highest recruiting class since 2016 and coached multiple All-Americans on both sides of the ball.  In just year two, the football program made its 12^th ever appearance in a bowl game.  In year three, they secured the program’s 4^th ever MAC Championship and defeated Conference USA Champion Kennesaw State 41-6 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.   With 5 consecutive NCAA post-season wins and 2 Sweet 16 appearances in Men’s Soccer, 2 NCAA appearances and a round of 32 appearance in Volleyball, multiple NCAA Regional appearances in Women’s Soccer and Gymnastics, an NCAA Regional Appearance in Baseball and Men’s Tennis, and an individual National Championship Appearance in Women’s Track and Field, the past four years have truly been a renaissance of athletic success in Kalamazoo.  Bartholomae has either hired or extended 7 Coach of the Year awardees during his four years as Athletic Director.
Resource Generation has been another pillar of the BRONCOS REIGN strategic plan.  Under his leadership, the department has seen an increase in annual external revenue support of 73%, while shrinking the department’s use of institutional general fund dollars by millions.   Bartholomae’s vision was pivotal in securing the school’s first Multimedia Rights Partnership in Van Wagner, which has led to a 34% increase in net sponsorship revenues to the department.  Additionally, the department has seen revenue increases in all ticketed sports since 2022, and led the MAC in overall ticket revenue in 2024.  Finally, after working with state representatives to support the passing of a bill to allow the sale of alcohol at intercollegiate athletic contests, the department saw a 311% increase in concessions revenues across all venues.  

Bartholomae has set new marks in fundraising since his arrival in Kalamazoo, most recently setting the WMU record for annual giving with over $21M raised in 2025-26.  Since Bartholomae’s hire in 2022, WMU has seen a 260% increase in average annual giving and a 60% increase in unique donors.  For the department’s efforts, athletics led the institution in unique donors on WMU Giving Day every year since 2022 and Bartholomae was recognized by the WMU Office of Advancement as the Outstanding Campus Partner in Philanthropy in 2024.  Under his leadership, the department has received the three largest gifts to a women’s sports program in school history, to support the recent renovation of the women’s basketball locker room and the construction of the world-class Bergeron Golf Performance Center.   In 2024, they received the largest named philanthropic gift in their history with a $5M donation to the football program.  Finally, as an early adapter to the evolving Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) space, Bartholomae worked with local alums to form the Broncos Will Reign Collective, which has raised significant funding in support of Bronco Student-Athletes.  He also partnered with Altius Sports Partners to bring the on-campus first Altius NIL General Manager in the MAC to WMU.

In three years, Bartholomae has generated funds to support $18M in privately funded new facility development, including the ongoing renovation of the training, strength and nutrition facilities at the Bill Brown Alumni Football Center; state-of-the-art women’s basketball locker room renovation; the world class Bergeron Golf Performance Center; new locker room facilities in Women’s Track and Field, Men’s Tennis and Gymnastics; new lights and a new soccer practice surface at the WMU Soccer Complex; four full service nutrition stations across all athletic facilities; a digital scoreboard in tennis; new turf fields at Waldo Stadium and the Donald J Seelye Center; and new premium spaces/experiences completed in Waldo Stadium, Lawson Arena and University Arena. 

In 2024, it was announced that Bartholomae and WMU had partnered with a local developer to begin construction on a $500M downtown arena which will serve as the new home of the WMU Basketball and Hockey Programs.  Funded completely through private resources, The Athletic Performance Center and Kalamazoo Events Center will not only house competition for those sports, but will also include state of the art training and performance facilities that rival the best in the country.

Bartholomae has served in Deputy Athletic Director capacities at both Oregon State University and the University of Pittsburgh.  He joined Western Michigan after working at Oregon State University (OSU), where he began as deputy athletic director in charge of capital projects and internal operations and was eventually promoted to executive deputy athletic director and chief operating officer. At OSU, Bartholomae served as lead in the Completing Reser Stadium project—setting a strategic vision, meeting with lead and foundational donors, and engaging in civic partnerships to fund a $153 million stadium renovation through a fundraising campaign, public/private partnerships, and revenue bonding.

Before his time with Oregon State, the Pittsburgh native served in numerous leadership roles for University of Pittsburgh athletics. Beginning in 2002 as a compliance and game operations assistant, he rose steadily through the ranks until concluding his 15-year stint with Pitt as the deputy athletic director responsible for internal affairs.

Throughout his career, Bartholomae has developed a track record of collaborating with athletic department staff, university administration, faculty, alums, and donors on detailed and measurable strategic planning in areas of athletic excellence, student-athlete development, revenue generation, community engagement, facility development, and diversity and inclusion. He assisted in developing Pitt's first life skills program for student-athletes and managed the academic performance plan for all of Pitt's 19 varsity sports.  He also served as the departmental point of contact with key university entities, including the board of trustees, chancellor, Title IX office, and academic support services.

He represented OSU and Pitt on committees and working groups with the NCAA, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the Pac-12, and the ACC. Always committed to the holistic development of student-athletes, he continues to collaborate and engage at the conference and national levels on emerging trends and evolving topics in college athletics. 

Bartholomae holds a Bachelor of Science degree in policy analysis and public affairs from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Lauren, have two children, Dylan and Lily.