Scott Hirko, PhD

Project Manager, College Athletics Finances Database

Scott Hirko is an assistant professor, and director, of the Sport Management Program at Defiance College (Ohio).  From 2011-2018, Hirko was assistant professor, and for two years as director, of the Sport Management Program at Central Michigan University. He serves as the project manager for the Knight Commission’s interactive, online database, College Athletics Financial Information (CAFI) database, released in March 2019; and was the project manager for its previous iteration, the Athletic and Academic Spending Database, since 2013. He was a lead assistant for the Knight Commission on its report, Restoring the Balance: Dollars, Values, and the Future of College Sports, published in June 2010.

Hirko earned a Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University (MSU) in September 2011. He was the founder of the Commission for Recreation and Athletics in the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). From 2007-2010, he served two terms on the MSU Athletic Council, appointed by MSU president Lou Anna Simon. Hirko co-founded SUPERSEED: Students United to Promote Economic Revenues Supporting Education and Economic Development. In 2007, the MSU Department of Student Life named Hirko as Michigan State University’s top Graduate Student Leader. He is active in the ACPA, American Educational Research Association, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

From 1996-2001, Hirko worked in college athletics administration as an assistant athletic director at Olivet College, as an assistant sports information director at Michigan Technological University, as public relations assistant to the West Coast Conference, and as a game day administrator and graduate assistant to Central Michigan University athletics. From 2000-2001, he served on the CoSIDA regional women’s basketball All-America selection committee and as the CoSIDA Single Sports Guide national coordinator.

He also served as a legislative assistant to Michigan Senator George Hart from 1991-1995. Hirko served as the Public Relations Officer and Legislative Liaison for the Michigan Humanities Council from 2001-2010, and was a registered lobbyist in the state of Michigan. He is visible in the community, having previously served on the board of directors of the MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan and the People’s Church Preschool Advisory Committee, as Vice Chair of the City of East Lansing Cable & Telecommunications Commission, and as Vice President of the Abbott Parkside Neighborhood Association.

Hirko earned a Master of Arts in Sport Administration from Central Michigan University in 1998 and Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science and Social Science from Michigan State University in 1990.  He has two daughters, Sierra (21) at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Sage (17) at East Lansing High School.  He lives with his sweetheart, Catherine Salvador, in Jackson, Michigan.