Staff Directory
- Title:
- Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
- Email:
- Phone:
- (812) 855-2794
IU alumnus Scott Dolson is in his sixth year as IU’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. The native of Michigan City, Ind., began his role at the helm of IU Athletics July 1, 2020, after spending the previous 11 years as the department’s Deputy Director of Athletics and chief operating officer.
Dating back to his first day on the job, Dolson has navigated enormous challenges. It began with the COVID pandemic in 2020, followed by the seismic shifts in the world of intercollegiate athletics in recent years with the evolution of NIL, the Transfer Portal, and revenue sharing. Despite those unprecedented challenges, Dolson has overseen an era of remarkable athletic and academic accomplishments for the department.
Academically, IU’s student-athletes have performed at an extraordinary level, including in 2024-25. A total of 136 earned their Indiana University degrees during the 2024-25 academic year. In addition, ten of IU’s programs earned a perfect Academic Progress Report (APR) score in the spring of 2025, and collectively IU’s programs had an APR score of 987 (out of 1,000). IU also earned a 91 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) score last year, the sixth time in the last seven years IU has been at 90 percent or better.
Athletically, IU teams excelled individually and collectively on the Big Ten and NCAA levels in 2024-25. Headlining that list was the IU Football program, which went 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten during the regular season to earn IU’s first-ever berth in the College Football Playoff. Ranked as high as No. 5 nationally, IU set program records for overall and Big Ten wins and was ranked No. 2 nationally in both scoring offense and total defense. That success not only resulted in four straight home sellouts to conclude the 2024 season, but also put IU Football on the sport’s biggest stages with an appearance by ESPN’s College Gameday as well as two appearances by FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff Show in Bloomington. First-year Coach Curt Cignetti was the architect of IU Football’s resurgence and unprecedented success, and he was named Big Ten and National Coach of the Year in 2024.
Numerous other IU programs enjoyed stellar 2024-25 season as well. Men’s Swimming and Diving placed third at the NCAA Championships and won its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship by a Big Ten-record 448 points. Women’s Swimming and Diving established a new program record with a fourth-place finish at NCAAs and was the Big Ten runner-up. Men’s Soccer continued to be one of the dominant programs in the sport, capturing its Big Ten-record 19th Big Ten regular season championship, earning its NCAA record 38th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and advancing to the Sweet 16 for an NCAA-best 10th straight season. In Women’s Basketball, Coach Teri Moren’s team enjoyed its 10th straight 20-win season and its sixth straight invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Softball earned a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, and Wrestling earned its first Top 25 NCAA Championships finish in a decade.
In addition to the team accomplishments, IU student-athletes also enjoyed great individual successes. Six different Hoosier student-athletes captured individual NCAA championships in 2024-25, the most individual titlists in a single-season in school history. Those six individuals combined to win a total of seven NCAA championships, which represented the most NCAA crowns in 54 years. Forty-one different IU student-athletes earned first, second, or third-team All-America honors, 31 Hoosiers earned First-Team All-Big Ten accolades, and five Hoosier were named Big Ten Athletes of the Year in their respective sport.
IU Athletics is also enjoying record-setting performances in terms of attendance. In Football, IU sold out the final four home games of the season and its average home attendance of 48,374 ranked fourth in school history. Men’s Basketball led the Big Ten and ranked sixth nationally in average home attendance (16,447), while Women’s Basketball ranked sixth nationally as well (10,828/game), eclipsing the 10,000/game mark for the second consecutive season.
Under Dolson’s leadership, IU continues to be at the forefront of supporting its female student-athletes and women’s intercollegiate athletics. Shortly after he assumed the leadership of IU Athletics, he announced the creation of the Women’s Excellence Initiative, a fundraising effort designed to enhance the intercollegiate athletic opportunities for IU’s female student-athletes. To help direct these efforts, the IU Athletics Women’s Excellence Committee was created under the Varsity Club National Board of Directors, a group that includes, among others, former Indiana University First Lady Laurie Burns McRobbie, former IU Board of Trustees member Donna Spears, Indianapolis Colts’ Vice Chair and Owner Kalen Jackson, and co-founder and Board Chair of the Samerian Foundation Cindy Simon Skjodt. Since its launch in August of 2021, Women’s Excellence has raised more than $8.5 million – far exceeding the initial goal of $1 million. Those funds have already been used for facility enhancements that have impacted Women’s Basketball, Field Hockey, Rowing, and Softball, and to fund overseas off-season training trips for Volleyball and Women’s Basketball.
Throughout Dolson’s tenure, IU Athletics has also been a national leader in the Name, Image and Likeness arena. IU’s official NIL partners – Hoosiers For Good and Hoosiers Connect – have been actively forming partnerships with IU student-athletes from the outset of the NIL era. In addition, IU Athletics has established partnerships with industry leaders Opendorse and Altius Sports Partners, as well as the IU Kelley School of Business, Media School and Maurer School of Law, to support the department’s ongoing and comprehensive efforts to educate and support its student-athletes and allow them to maximize their opportunity in the new intercollegiate athletics landscape.
In addition to his successes at IU, Dolson has also been involved in a leadership role on the Big Ten and NCAA levels. He recently completed a two-year stint as the Chairperson of the Big Ten Athletic Directors Group, and he also was named to the NCAA Division I Baseball Selection Committee in January of 2024.
Dolson was appointed to his role as the leader of IU Athletics by former IU President Michael A. McRobbie. In assuming the role, Dolson has remained committed to the foundational principles put in place his predecessor, Fred Glass, while also adapting to the new realities of college athletics in the revenue sharing and NIL era. The amalgamation of those components resulted in IU Athletics’ new mantra, Never Daunted, which was introduced in 2025. As the wording suggests, ‘Never Daunted’ acknowledges the challenges associated with the recent changes that have transformed college athletics. But it also emphasizes IU Athletics’ unwavering commitment to adapt, evolve, and ultimately succeed in this new environment to maximize the intercollegiate athletics experience for our student-athletes, programs, department, and fanbase.
In pursuit of those goals, IU Athletics concentrates its efforts on its deep-rooted priorities of:
1. Playing by the rules;
2. Achieving academically;
3. Excelling athletically;
4. Supporting Student-Athletes’ wellness and personal growth; and
5. Integrating with the University.
In his previous role as Deputy Director of Athletics, Dolson helped oversee strategic planning of all facility projects and renovations, ensuring the successful completion of the university's Bicentennial Facilities Master Plan for IU Athletics, which includes over $150 million in facility construction and renovations. In recent years, these projects have included the North End Zone Student-Athlete Development Center, the Henke Hall of Champions, the D. Ames Shuel Academic Center, Bart Kaufman Field, the Andy Mohr Softball Field, the Cook Hall basketball practice facility, the renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, the enclosure of the South End Zone of Memorial Stadium (Excellence Academy), and Wilkinson Hall, IU's new home for its volleyball and wrestling teams. More recently, the projects also include the five-year-old championship golf course, The Pfau Course at Indiana University, and the Tardy Center renovations at Armstrong Stadium.
In addition to his role as deputy director of intercollegiate athletics, Dolson maintained his leadership as the fourth director of the Varsity Club. As director, he managed the athletic department's overall fundraising program for scholarships, annual giving, endowments and athletic facilities.
The Michigan City, Indiana, native graduated from IU with a bachelor's degree in management from the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. While doing his undergraduate work, Dolson was a student manager for the IU men's basketball team for four seasons, serving as the program's head manager in 1988. Following graduation in 1988, he worked for Tim Knight Enterprises before joining the joining the Varsity Club staff in December 1989.
Dolson and his wife, Heidi, have five children: Luke, Sam and Zach Wisen, and Kristen and Nick Dolson.
2024-25 Academic and Athletic Accomplishments
- Ten programs earned a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 1,000, and collectively IU programs had a 987 APR score
- Collectively, IU’s athletic programs earned a 91 Graduation Success Rate (GSR) score, the second-best in school history
- 324 Academic All-Big Ten honorees, the fourth-most in school history
- 136 student-athletes earned their Indiana University degrees
- Won the Governor’s Cup against Purdue 13-7, IU’s seventh consecutive win in the series and the second-most lopsided result in the Cup’s 24-year history
- Anna Peplowski and Anthony Leal named G. Frederick Glass Spirit of Indiana Director’s Award winners
- Six different Hoosiers won individual NCAA championships, the most in school history
- IU student-athletes combined to win seven individual NCAA championships, the school’s most in 54 years
- Curt Cignetti was consensus National Coach of the Year in football, winning six of the eight major Coach of the Year awards
- Drew Johansen was named National Men’s Diving Coach of the Year for the third straight year and fourth time overall. He also earned Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach of the Year honors
- Ray Looze won the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year awards, giving him a Big Ten-record total of 16 in his career. He’s the only coach to win both the men’s and women’s awards in the same season, a feat he accomplished this year for the fourth time.
- 31 First-Team All-Big Ten selections
- 41 First, Second, or Third-Team All-America honorees
- Football earned the program’s first-ever bid to the College Football Playoff by going 11-1 in the regular season (8-1 Big Ten) and establishing new program records for overall and Big Ten victories. IU ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring offense and total defense, and Coach Curt Cignetti was the consensus National Coach of the Year and the Big Ten Coach of the Year. Linebacker Aidan Fisher was a first-team All-American, while cornerback D’Angelo Ponds (2nd team) and defensive end Mikail Kamara (3rd team) also earned All-America accolades
- Men’s Swimming and Diving captured its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship, winning by the largest margin (448 points) in Big Ten history. The program also placed third at the NCAA Championships - its sixth top five finish in the last seven NCAA meets – and had four individuals combine to win five individual NCAA titles (Carson Tyler – 3m and Platform diving; Jassen Yep – 200 breaststroke; Quinn Henninger – 1m diving; and Zalan Sarkany – 1650 freestyle). Tyler was named Big Ten and National Diver of the Year, while Owen McDonald was honored as Big Ten Swimmer of the Year.
- Women’s Swimming and Diving placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, the program’s best NCAA finish in program history. Highlighting the team’s NCAA performances was Anna Peplowski and Syler Liu, who won individual NCAA titles in the 200 freestyle and Platform diving, respectively. Peplowski (Swimming) and Liu (Diving) were also honored as Big Ten Athletes of the Year in their sport
- Men’s Soccer won the Big Ten regular season title for a league-record 19th time and earned its NCAA-record 38th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, where it advanced to the Sweet 16 for an NCAA-best 10th straight year. The team also earned its record 37th consecutive NCAA Championships invitation and advanced to the Elite Eight for an NCAA-record 29th time. The program had four players named to the First-Team All-Big Ten squad, led by Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Tommy Mihalic
- Softball earned a third consecutive NCAA Tournament invitation, marking the first time that has happened in program history. Leading the way was outfielder Taylor Minnick, who earned First-Team All-America honors after setting new program record for single-season batting average and RBIs
- Women’s Basketball enjoyed its tenth consecutive 20-win season and earned its sixth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Teri Moren improved to 7-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games during her IU career with a first-round win over Utah, and she has led IU to seven of the 11 NCAA Tournament berths in program history during her 11-year IU career
- Rowing earned its third-straight NCAA Championships invitation and placed 14th overall, its best NCAA finish in six years
- Wrestling placed 24th at the NCAA Championships to earn its first Top 25 NCAA finish in 10 years.
