Staff Directory

Dr. Calli Sanders

Title:
Senior Associate AD/Sports Administration
Email:
Phone:
515-294-3706

***Updated August 2026***

Dr. Calli Sanders, who has administrative responsibility for 12 of Iowa State’s 18 intercollegiate athletic programs, joined the Cyclone staff in 2003 as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Administration, and will retire from her current position on December 31, 2026. She also serves as ISU’s Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) to the NCAA and Big 12 Conference, is an ex-officio member of the Iowa State Athletics Council and has served as a campus Deputy Title IX Coordinator.

Only the second individual in the history of the ISU Athletics Department to serve as the Cyclones’ SWA, the teams under Sanders’ supervision have risen to national prominence during her Iowa State tenure while combining to win 18 of ISU’s 32 all-time Big 12 Conference championships. The Cyclone women’s basketball, tennis and volleyball teams have all advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight; the softball team made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021; while the cross country and track & field teams as well as both men’s and women’s golf programs have all enjoyed outstanding success under her guidance.

Sanders began her athletics administrative career in Sports Information at American University (1987-88). From there, she spent 10 years (1988-97) at UAB in the roles of Sports Information, Compliance Coordinator, Assistant Athletics Director and Associate Athletics Director. Sanders was instrumental in helping UAB establish Division IA football and women’s soccer programs while instituting the school’s first compliance and academic units. She concurrently served as the Blazers’ head women’s golf coach (1994-96).

After a decade of service to UAB, Sanders returned to her native state of Montana in 1997 as Montana State’s Associate Athletics Director, where she worked until 2001. She supervised nine Bobcat programs and four department units before stepping away from athletics briefly to serve as the University of Maine’s Associate Dean of Students (2002-03).

Active on numerous NCAA and Big 12 committees throughout her career, Sanders served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee (1999-2001) and chaired the West Regional advisory and Final Four site selection committees. She has directed several NCAA Tournament rounds and assisted with operations at the 2000 and 2001 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Fours.

Sanders has served on the Big 12’s television, legislation, ethical conduct, administrative and gender equity committees and has chaired the Big 12’s SWA governance group three times. She was a peer reviewer for the NCAA certification program and served on the editorial board of Athletic Management magazine. Sanders taught a “Gender Issues in Sports” class at Iowa State from 2012 through 2023.

Sanders earned an undergraduate degree in communications from Montana (1986), a master’s in education from UAB (1990) and a doctorate in higher education administration from Montana State (2004). She also completed the Sports Management Institute’s executive program in 2002 at Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.

Calli and her husband, Rick, who has led the ISU Research Park as President and Director since 2019, have three grown children. Theisen (wife, Veronica) is an Iowa State graduate and works as a software engineer in Chicago; Jack (wife, Blair; children, Luka, Logan and Charlie), is an Iowa State graduate working in Richmond, Va., as a product manager for a software and financial services firm; and Molly, a former basketball player and Commissioned Officer at the United States Naval Academy, works in Public Affairs and is stationed at the Pentagon.