Martin Jarmond is in his seventh year as UCLA's Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics. He was named the ninth athletic director in school history in May 2020. Since arriving in Westwood, Jarmond has led the Bruins through an unprecedented transformational period in collegiate athletics. A two-time Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree, he has positioned UCLA for long-term success through strategic leadership, competitive excellence and a commitment to the student-athlete experience.
At UCLA, Jarmond oversees one of the largest athletics departments in the country, sponsoring 25 varsity sports, supporting nearly 600 student-athletes and employing more than 300 full-time staff members. Under his direction, UCLA Athletics has excelled in competition, in the classroom and across the campus community while engaging with millions of fans annually through Bruin athletic events.
To position UCLA for sustained success in a rapidly evolving collegiate landscape, Jarmond led the creation of the department's comprehensive "Fours Up" Strategic Plan in 2023. Developed through a collaborative process involving student-athletes, coaches, staff and campus leadership, the plan established a roadmap centered on championship success, student-athlete development, financial sustainability and institutional alignment. The strategic plan has guided UCLA through conference realignment, revenue sharing, NIL opportunities and the broader transformation of college athletics while maintaining the department's commitment to developing champions through academic excellence, competitive greatness and social responsibility.
Since Jarmond’s arrival, UCLA has won nine NCAA team championships in six different sports and 38 conference championships. UCLA has also led all Big Ten institutions in combined Big Ten and MPSF championships during each of its first two seasons in the conference. In 2025-26, UCLA led the nation with three NCAA team championships in men's water polo, women's basketball and beach volleyball and finished third in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings, marking the Bruins’ second consecutive top-five finish. UCLA also captured 11 conference championships, including eight Big Ten titles and three MPSF championships, and recorded top-five national finishes in eight sports in 2025-26.
In the classroom, UCLA student-athletes posted a cumulative GPA of 3.24 during the 2025-26 academic year. UCLA also produced five CSC Academic All-Americans, 45 CSC Academic All-District selections, 274 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and 71 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
The Bruins tied a school-record Graduation Success Rate of 92 percent in 2025-26, exceeding the national Division I average. Seven programs achieved perfect Graduation Success Rates, while 14 teams earned perfect APR scores of 1,000, the department's highest total in six years. Five teams also received recognition for having multi-year rates in the Top 10 percent of their sports.
Under Jarmond’s leadership, UCLA Athletics has also achieved significant growth in philanthropic support and external engagement. During fiscal year 2025-26, the department received more than $41 million in private philanthropic support from more than 6,500 donors, representing an increase of more than 80 percent over the previous two years.
Working closely with campus leadership, Jarmond played a pivotal role in UCLA's historic move to the Big Ten Conference and helped position the department for long-term competitive and financial success. He engineered UCLA’s partnership with Nike and Jordan Brand, making UCLA the fifth Jordan brand school in the nation and establishing the first Nike partnership in school history. He also negotiated a long-term multimedia rights agreement with JMI Sports through 2035 and has guided UCLA through the implementation of revenue sharing and the modern NIL era.
Under Jarmond’s leadership, UCLA launched comprehensive NIL initiatives, helping establish UCLA as a national leader in student-athlete brand development and education. In 2025, UCLA began sharing revenue with student-athletes at the maximum allowable level while continuing to expand resources that support their success.
Jarmond has prioritized a strong commitment to well-being and mental health awareness initiatives throughout his tenure. His leadership in diversity and inclusive hiring was recognized by Sports Business Journal in 2021.
Nationally, Jarmond has served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee and also serves on the boards of the Geffen Academy and the John McLendon Foundation.
Prior to UCLA, Jarmond served as Director of Athletics at Boston College, where he led the department's first comprehensive strategic plan and athletics-only capital campaign. When he was hired at Boston College in 2017, he became the youngest athletic director among Power Five institutions. Before Boston College, he spent eight years at Ohio State University, rising to Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Advancement Officer while helping raise more than $120 million in support of the Buckeyes. He also served on the executive leadership team at Michigan State University for seven years, where he played a key role in the university's historic fundraising initiatives.
A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Jarmond earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he was a two-year captain of the men's basketball team and helped lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and earned Colonial Athletic Association All-Academic honors. He also holds both an MBA and a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University.
Jarmond and his wife, Dr. Jessica Jarmond, a dentist, have three daughters: Scarlett, Savannah and Serena.