Steven LaPlante serves as Associate Director of Major Gifts for Northwestern Athletics, a role he assumed in December 2025 following nearly four years of impactful leadership on the annual fund team.
 

Steven joined Northwestern in March 2022 as Assistant Director of Operations, Events & Premium Seating and quickly advanced to Associate Director of the Wildcat Fund in May 2023. Under his direction, the annual fund experienced unprecedented growth, culminating in a record-breaking year for the Wildcat Fund in 2024–25.
 

Before Northwestern, Steven contributed to the success of University of Tennessee Athletics as a Development Assistant, playing a role in the renovation of Neyland Stadium’s west sideline and the strategic restructuring of the annual fund, which delivered historic highs in both donors and dollars during the 2021–22 season.
 

Steven holds both an MBA and a Master’s in Sport Administration from Ohio University, where he served as a graduate assistant for the Ohio Bobcat Club. He earned his undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of South Carolina and spent four years as a men’s basketball manager for the Gamecocks, contributing to the program’s run to the Final Four in 2017.
 

Steven resides in Glenview, Illinois, with his wife, Paige.