Nearly a year after leaving the top job at Nike, former Swoosh chief executive officer John Donahoe has joined Stanford University as the next athletic director. He will begin at Stanford on Sept. 8.

Jon Levin, president of Stanford University, said in a statement that the university needed a “distinctive leader” to fill this role.

“Someone with the vision, judgment, and strategic acumen for a new era of college athletics, and with a deep appreciation for Stanford’s model of scholar-athlete excellence. John embodies these characteristics,” Levin said. “We’re grateful he has agreed to lead Stanford Athletics through this critical period in college sports.”

Levin said Donahoe will help to position Stanford’s entire 36-sport program for continued success in an era shaped by an evolving media landscape, revenue sharing, NIL deals, expanded transfer, and conference realignment.

Donahoe, an alumnus of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, was the CEO of Nike from 2020 through Oct. 2024 and served on its board of directors beginning in 2014. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of ServiceNow, a global software company, and as CEO of eBay. He served as chair of the board at PayPal from 2015-2025. Earlier in his career, he worked for Bain & Company for nearly 20 years, including as the firm’s worldwide CEO.

“My north star for 40 years has been servant leadership, and it is a tremendous honor to be able to come back to serve a university I love and to lead Stanford Athletics through a pivotal and tumultuous time in collegiate sports,” Donahoe added. “Stanford has enormous strengths and enormous potential in a changing environment, including being the model for achieving both academic and athletic excellence at the highest levels. I can’t wait to work in partnership with the Stanford team to build momentum for Stanford Athletics and ensure the best possible experiences for our student-athletes.”

Donahoe noted his priorities for Stanford Athletics will include “sustaining the Stanford student-athlete model and galvanizing community support for it; building a sustainable financial model; engaging externally; and ensuring that the Stanford Athletics organization is at the top of the game in college athletics.”