On July 24, LIU announced the hiring of their new Director of Athletics, William E. Martinov, 55, who now oversees the university’s unified athletic programs.
In the summer of 2019, LIU Post and Brooklyn merged their athletics into the Division I LIU Sharks as ‘#OneLIU’.
“We are one athletic department,” says Martinov, “I’m humbled and excited to be the director of athletics. I look at the recruiting process, the coaching staff and resources.
“I’m excited about new opportunities for our athletics. We will grow as a Division I program and continue to recruit exceptional student-athletes."
“It relates to a bigger picture in terms of how LIU has been growing as a teaching and research institution,” says Martinov, “our students should be excited about being at LIU and [excited about] student-athletes that are going to represent the university very well.”
The new athletic director is focused on the student-athlete experience, “They’re students first. We support them along with the LIU Promise program. We want to make sure their athletic experience is just as good as their academic experience.”
Martinov has over 30 years of experience in administrative leadership at multiple universities. This includes his last three years at LIU, “I started out in [2016 at LIU as chief of] admissions and alumni relations.
“I also oversaw the Eastern Regional Championships this past year. Due to my background, [Kimberly] Cline asked me to take on the role as director of athletics,” Martinov said.
Martinov explains his background in administrative coaching before he met President Kimberly R. Cline outside of LIU, “I graduated from DePauw University in 1986. I started out as a graduate assistant football coach at Austin Peay State University.”
Following Martinov’s tenure at Austin Peay, he returned to his home state of Indiana and became a grad assistant at Notre Dame. Martinov is a native of South Bed, Ind.
Martinov helped Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Division I football team gain a national championship win in 1988.
After 11 years at Notre Dame, Martinov decided to earn his doctorate in educational administration. He attended St. John’s University for nearly five years in New York to acquire his doctoral degree.
He was St. John’s strength/conditioning head coach and associate director of alumni relations.
Martinov’s first term as an athletic director was at SUNY Maritime College in 2003. He introduced women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse into the university’s athletics for the first time.
After four years, he became the senior associate director in athletics and external relations at Stony Brook University.
In 2008, Martinov joined Mercy College after being contacted by Kimberly Cline, “Cline became the president of Mercy College,” says Martinov, “and she asked me to join Mercy as the dean of students. I was there for eight years and I oversaw athletics.”
Martinov also served as the chief officer of student affairs for Mercy College.
The athletic director holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, master’s degrees in administration, physical education and a doctoral degree in educational administration.
“When Cline came to LIU, she offered me another great opportunity to then join LIU. That gets us to where we are now,” Martinov said.
Martinov replaces Debbie DeJong, the former LIU athletic director. She is currently working at Stony Brook University.
Martinov welcomes all students and student-athletes to contact him regarding LIU athletics at william.martinov@liu.edu.
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