Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics
Wildcat Fund Exclusive Interview - Mark Jackson
8/11/2025 12:33:00 PM | General
In August of 2024, Northwestern officially named Mark Jackson as the school's new Combe Family Vice President for Athletics & Recreation. During his first year in Evanston, Jackson has helped the Wildcats navigate seismic changes in college sports and construction of the new Ryan Field, a stadium project that will shape the future of Northwestern Athletics.
Last month, Jackson sat down with the Wildcat Fund for a conversation about his journey to Northwestern, his goals for the athletic department and how your support is empowering more than 500 student-athletes across 21 varsity programs in Evanston.
Wildcat Fund: Your own student-athlete experience came on the football team at Colby College. Did this Division III level of competition help inform your idea of what it means to graduate complete student-athletes?
Mark Jackson: Even before that, it was my parents who gave me an appreciation of the value of education. But sports give you an opportunity to combine that with these intangibles that come with being part of a team. You're learning lessons about teamwork and understanding that there's something bigger out there than wins and losses. Those are things that stay with you for the rest of your life. I was lucky enough to experience that and it's something I want to make a priority at Northwestern: that our student-athletes view their time here as something that goes beyond just competing for the Wildcats.
Wildcat Fund: What do your friends and teammates from college make of all this? What's it been like having them along for the ride during your time as an athletic director?
Jackson: I just celebrated my 30th college reunion and I hadn't been back to Colby in a long time until that last trip. It's amazing how quickly you can pick up where you left off. To this day, my former teammates are some of my closest friends and they've been with me on this journey through sports that's taken us to some pretty cool places.
This experience at Northwestern is still relatively new, but some of my friends from college are already circling the big football games on our schedule to make their way out here. That's the great thing about a college campus – when anybody comes to visit, there's just an energy that you feel. It's probably my favorite part about working in college sports. You're impacting the lives of 18 to 22-year-old kids but they're also impacting you and making you feel relevant, young and energized every day. I hope that when our alumni and fans come back to visit Northwestern, they feel the same way.
Wildcat Fund: You had a very full circle moment in June, traveling back home to Boston to watch Northwestern Lacrosse in the Final Four at Gillette Stadium, where your career in sports began with the New England Patriots. What was that moment like for you?
Jackson: My wife and I both come from big families that practically live in the shadow of Gillette Stadium, so I've been back to visit the Patriots and we've been back for concerts. But I had never been back as part of a team competing there and that was really special.
I flew to Boston from San Diego where I was watching our women's golf program win a national championship. After a redeye flight, I was feeling like a zombie. But as soon as I walked into the team breakfast you could feel the energy and how Kelly [Amonte Hiller] had that team completely focused and dialed in. My wife and our youngest son Sean really had the chance to immerse themselves in that whole weekend. That game against Boston College was just phenomenal and really fun to be a part of.
Wildcat Fund: Even in the changing landscape of college athletics, why is supporting the Wildcat Fund so important to our success?
Jackson: We're fortunate to be a part of the Big Ten and there are certainly financial benefits that are associated with that membership. But we also have a huge responsibility here at Northwestern, because we don't just want to survive in the Big Ten. We want to thrive in the Big Ten. And especially at a private institution, that doesn't happen alone.
Wildcat Fund: There's so much being written about the new Ryan Field and what that project will mean for Northwestern and our community. What are some of the experiences throughout your career that have helped prepare you to lead this project?
Jackson: I think it's a combination of being at USC during the early stages of redeveloping the Los Angeles Coliseum and then a wholesale renovation project of our basketball arena at Villanova. But nothing to the scale of what we're doing at the new Ryan Field.
This is historic. This is one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in college athletics. And it's not just about the dollars, which are sizable and represent a huge commitment from the Ryan family and members of the Northwestern community, but it's about the experience we're creating.
We want to create a world-class experience from the time people receive their tickets, show up at our venue, how they enter the stadium, where they park and come into the stadium, to retail and concession options, sightlines and then the product on the field. All those things keep us really busy, but the desire and commitment from the Ryan family and the dynamic leadership from our senior team give this project a chance to be a tremendous success.
Wildcat Fund: When you talk to Coach Braun about the new Ryan Field or Coach Drohan about Kirkpatrick Stadium, what's their excitement level? And what are some ways that Northwestern fans can get involved in supporting these projects?
Jackson: Both these coaches understand what it means to wear the N on your chest and walk into a stadium on our campus. And they don't take that responsibility lightly. So, both Dave [Braun] and Kate [Drohan] have been intimately involved in these projects. The goal is to make sure these stadium projects are emblematic of this world-class brand. And that's going to happen because the Northwestern community has gotten behind these projects.
They're in different stages of development – we're coming to the end of our fundraising effort with Kirkpatrick Stadium, but there are still opportunities available to support the locker room and other stadium amenities that will help us close that project out.
And with the new Ryan Field, we're in the early stages of our sales process and those are opportunities that will be made available for all to take part in, because we think there's something here for everybody. This is not just a football venue. This is a venue for 365 days a year that will bring the Evanston, Chicago and Northwestern communities together. It's something that everybody is going to want to be a part of. When we talk about FOMO, you know the fear of missing out? I think when we unveil a venue that's unlike anything else in college football, more and more people are going to make sure that they don't miss out.
Wildcat Fund: How do you keep up with college sports and this rapidly changing landscape? Anyone you enjoy reading, watching or listening to?
Jackson: I try to consume as much as I can across the board. I spent 16 hours in a car the other day driving back to Evanston from Massachusetts as part of helping our family move. I can't tell you how many podcasts I listened to, including plenty outside college athletics.
So, I wouldn't say there's any media that stands out, but I certainly lean on my circle and people I trust who have been part of my career. Lately, I've been really encouraged by the Big Ten after coming in as the new guy and being able to lean on my colleagues. I really admire [Big Ten Commissioner] Tony Petitti as one of the top thought leaders in college athletics and I've really enjoyed learning from him. We just came back from our Big Ten meetings in Las Vegas and it's not always easy. Those conversations can get heavy, but we walked out of that room in complete alignment that the Big Ten is the top college athletic conference in the country and we're all lucky to be a part of it.
Wildcat Fund: A few months ago, you traveled to France and visited Ohama Beach and the site of the D-Day landing at Normandy. Not a college sports question at all, but I was curious why that trip was important to you and the impression that it might have left?
Jackson: This goes all the way back to my childhood. Like so many people, I grew up fascinated by what allows us to live in a country like this and I've always felt like the events of Normandy are symbolic of so much of that sacrifice and dedication. I've read all the books, seen all the movies and I've always talked a big game about visiting Normandy with my cousin who I'm incredibly close to. Every year we would be like, "this is the year, this is the year," and then sure enough, 20 years go by. Well, this past year was the 80th anniversary of D-Day and we were both watching the Army-Navy Game in early December.
Army came out in these uniforms that were symbolic of the Battle of the Bulge, which was fought in the middle of winter. I'm in Chicago and I'm texting him in Boston about how these great-looking uniforms and he was like, "We still need to go to Normandy. What about the third week of January?" And I'm like, "Well, I just started this new job and I'm trying to move with four kids spread out all over the country." But I pulled out my calendar and there was a little window where I could make it happen. As you might expect, I had to ask my boss, President Schill, and he was like, "You have to go. You have to do it."
I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but seeing Normandy up close had such an impact on me. Particularly at that time of year, there aren't a lot of people there in January, so oftentimes we were alone on Normandy or Pointe du Hoc. It was just me, my cousin and a tour guide. And then we to drove to Bastogne in Belgium and saw the Battle of Bulge. And then we ended up in Paris and learned about what it meant to them. I'll never, ever forget it.
Wildcat Fund: One of the six pillars you shared in your update to the Northwestern community in July is to tell our story with impact. So, I'll throw it to you: when people tell the story of Northwestern Athletics in 2025-26, what would you like that story to be?
Jackson: I want it to be authentically Northwestern, because we're not trying to be like anybody else. I think we're so unique and when you look at all the ingredients here, we don't have to be like anybody else. We're the number-six academic institution in the country, we're in Chicago and competing in the Big Ten Conference, with an influential, global alumni base. We just won a pair of national championships and we're building a game-changing new football stadium. So, we have all these exciting things that position us to have success athletically, but also academically and in our community.
And those are things that Northwestern has been doing well for a long time. We don't have to step outside ourselves and do something different because of all these changes that are coming at us. It's just the opposite. These are huge opportunities to lean into our strengths.
Last month, Jackson sat down with the Wildcat Fund for a conversation about his journey to Northwestern, his goals for the athletic department and how your support is empowering more than 500 student-athletes across 21 varsity programs in Evanston.
Wildcat Fund: Your own student-athlete experience came on the football team at Colby College. Did this Division III level of competition help inform your idea of what it means to graduate complete student-athletes?
Mark Jackson: Even before that, it was my parents who gave me an appreciation of the value of education. But sports give you an opportunity to combine that with these intangibles that come with being part of a team. You're learning lessons about teamwork and understanding that there's something bigger out there than wins and losses. Those are things that stay with you for the rest of your life. I was lucky enough to experience that and it's something I want to make a priority at Northwestern: that our student-athletes view their time here as something that goes beyond just competing for the Wildcats.
Wildcat Fund: What do your friends and teammates from college make of all this? What's it been like having them along for the ride during your time as an athletic director?
Jackson: I just celebrated my 30th college reunion and I hadn't been back to Colby in a long time until that last trip. It's amazing how quickly you can pick up where you left off. To this day, my former teammates are some of my closest friends and they've been with me on this journey through sports that's taken us to some pretty cool places.
This experience at Northwestern is still relatively new, but some of my friends from college are already circling the big football games on our schedule to make their way out here. That's the great thing about a college campus – when anybody comes to visit, there's just an energy that you feel. It's probably my favorite part about working in college sports. You're impacting the lives of 18 to 22-year-old kids but they're also impacting you and making you feel relevant, young and energized every day. I hope that when our alumni and fans come back to visit Northwestern, they feel the same way.
Wildcat Fund: You had a very full circle moment in June, traveling back home to Boston to watch Northwestern Lacrosse in the Final Four at Gillette Stadium, where your career in sports began with the New England Patriots. What was that moment like for you?
Jackson: My wife and I both come from big families that practically live in the shadow of Gillette Stadium, so I've been back to visit the Patriots and we've been back for concerts. But I had never been back as part of a team competing there and that was really special.
I flew to Boston from San Diego where I was watching our women's golf program win a national championship. After a redeye flight, I was feeling like a zombie. But as soon as I walked into the team breakfast you could feel the energy and how Kelly [Amonte Hiller] had that team completely focused and dialed in. My wife and our youngest son Sean really had the chance to immerse themselves in that whole weekend. That game against Boston College was just phenomenal and really fun to be a part of.
A Fourth Quarter Comeback for the Ages
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) May 24, 2025
Roll the Tape ??? pic.twitter.com/gcUsWjmI1n
Wildcat Fund: Even in the changing landscape of college athletics, why is supporting the Wildcat Fund so important to our success?
Jackson: We're fortunate to be a part of the Big Ten and there are certainly financial benefits that are associated with that membership. But we also have a huge responsibility here at Northwestern, because we don't just want to survive in the Big Ten. We want to thrive in the Big Ten. And especially at a private institution, that doesn't happen alone.
Our fans, alumni and donors have been instrumental to our success and their pride in Northwestern is clear. Personally, this community has been so warm and welcoming to my family and I during our first year in Evanston. Right now, we need this incredible community more than ever. That's because the demands on the athletic department at this moment are unique.
We're going to need to be innovative, whether that's in our approach to revenue sharing and NIL, whether it's making sure the new Ryan Field is successful or that Kirkpatrick Stadium is a world-class venue for our world-class softball program. And we can't take an innovative approach to solving these challenges without donors who support the Wildcat Fund. The Wildcat Fund will ensure that in this changing environment, Northwestern Athletics has what it needs to maintain excellence. We are not going to change who we are at Northwestern and we will never ask our donors to support projects that don't fit our mission. We are excited for the path forward and we know our community is too.
Wildcat Fund: There's so much being written about the new Ryan Field and what that project will mean for Northwestern and our community. What are some of the experiences throughout your career that have helped prepare you to lead this project?
Jackson: I think it's a combination of being at USC during the early stages of redeveloping the Los Angeles Coliseum and then a wholesale renovation project of our basketball arena at Villanova. But nothing to the scale of what we're doing at the new Ryan Field.
This is historic. This is one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in college athletics. And it's not just about the dollars, which are sizable and represent a huge commitment from the Ryan family and members of the Northwestern community, but it's about the experience we're creating.
We want to create a world-class experience from the time people receive their tickets, show up at our venue, how they enter the stadium, where they park and come into the stadium, to retail and concession options, sightlines and then the product on the field. All those things keep us really busy, but the desire and commitment from the Ryan family and the dynamic leadership from our senior team give this project a chance to be a tremendous success.
New Ryan Field, scheduled to open in 2026, is gonna be great ???#B1GFootball x @NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/uCtI5ySSZK
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) July 23, 2025
Wildcat Fund: When you talk to Coach Braun about the new Ryan Field or Coach Drohan about Kirkpatrick Stadium, what's their excitement level? And what are some ways that Northwestern fans can get involved in supporting these projects?
Jackson: Both these coaches understand what it means to wear the N on your chest and walk into a stadium on our campus. And they don't take that responsibility lightly. So, both Dave [Braun] and Kate [Drohan] have been intimately involved in these projects. The goal is to make sure these stadium projects are emblematic of this world-class brand. And that's going to happen because the Northwestern community has gotten behind these projects.
They're in different stages of development – we're coming to the end of our fundraising effort with Kirkpatrick Stadium, but there are still opportunities available to support the locker room and other stadium amenities that will help us close that project out.
And with the new Ryan Field, we're in the early stages of our sales process and those are opportunities that will be made available for all to take part in, because we think there's something here for everybody. This is not just a football venue. This is a venue for 365 days a year that will bring the Evanston, Chicago and Northwestern communities together. It's something that everybody is going to want to be a part of. When we talk about FOMO, you know the fear of missing out? I think when we unveil a venue that's unlike anything else in college football, more and more people are going to make sure that they don't miss out.
Wildcat Fund: How do you keep up with college sports and this rapidly changing landscape? Anyone you enjoy reading, watching or listening to?
Jackson: I try to consume as much as I can across the board. I spent 16 hours in a car the other day driving back to Evanston from Massachusetts as part of helping our family move. I can't tell you how many podcasts I listened to, including plenty outside college athletics.
So, I wouldn't say there's any media that stands out, but I certainly lean on my circle and people I trust who have been part of my career. Lately, I've been really encouraged by the Big Ten after coming in as the new guy and being able to lean on my colleagues. I really admire [Big Ten Commissioner] Tony Petitti as one of the top thought leaders in college athletics and I've really enjoyed learning from him. We just came back from our Big Ten meetings in Las Vegas and it's not always easy. Those conversations can get heavy, but we walked out of that room in complete alignment that the Big Ten is the top college athletic conference in the country and we're all lucky to be a part of it.
Wildcat Fund: A few months ago, you traveled to France and visited Ohama Beach and the site of the D-Day landing at Normandy. Not a college sports question at all, but I was curious why that trip was important to you and the impression that it might have left?
Jackson: This goes all the way back to my childhood. Like so many people, I grew up fascinated by what allows us to live in a country like this and I've always felt like the events of Normandy are symbolic of so much of that sacrifice and dedication. I've read all the books, seen all the movies and I've always talked a big game about visiting Normandy with my cousin who I'm incredibly close to. Every year we would be like, "this is the year, this is the year," and then sure enough, 20 years go by. Well, this past year was the 80th anniversary of D-Day and we were both watching the Army-Navy Game in early December.
Army came out in these uniforms that were symbolic of the Battle of the Bulge, which was fought in the middle of winter. I'm in Chicago and I'm texting him in Boston about how these great-looking uniforms and he was like, "We still need to go to Normandy. What about the third week of January?" And I'm like, "Well, I just started this new job and I'm trying to move with four kids spread out all over the country." But I pulled out my calendar and there was a little window where I could make it happen. As you might expect, I had to ask my boss, President Schill, and he was like, "You have to go. You have to do it."
I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but seeing Normandy up close had such an impact on me. Particularly at that time of year, there aren't a lot of people there in January, so oftentimes we were alone on Normandy or Pointe du Hoc. It was just me, my cousin and a tour guide. And then we to drove to Bastogne in Belgium and saw the Battle of Bulge. And then we ended up in Paris and learned about what it meant to them. I'll never, ever forget it.
Wildcat Fund: One of the six pillars you shared in your update to the Northwestern community in July is to tell our story with impact. So, I'll throw it to you: when people tell the story of Northwestern Athletics in 2025-26, what would you like that story to be?
Jackson: I want it to be authentically Northwestern, because we're not trying to be like anybody else. I think we're so unique and when you look at all the ingredients here, we don't have to be like anybody else. We're the number-six academic institution in the country, we're in Chicago and competing in the Big Ten Conference, with an influential, global alumni base. We just won a pair of national championships and we're building a game-changing new football stadium. So, we have all these exciting things that position us to have success athletically, but also academically and in our community.
And those are things that Northwestern has been doing well for a long time. We don't have to step outside ourselves and do something different because of all these changes that are coming at us. It's just the opposite. These are huge opportunities to lean into our strengths.
There's Only One Northwestern ?? pic.twitter.com/vaFhgRzH5X
— Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) June 23, 2025
Thank you for your support of the Wildcat Fund this past year. To make your next donation to Northwestern Athletics before the end of the fiscal year on August 31, please click here. We hope to see you cheering on the Wildcats soon!
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