Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton announces retirement

Longtime Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton, who led Montana State’s athletic department for a decade back in the 1980s and 1990s, announced his retirement Wednesday.

Fullerton is currently completing his 20th year in the position.

“This has been an incredible experience, being commissioner for 20 years,” said Fullerton, whose will hang it up at the end of June. “I have had the privilege to work with an incredible staff as well as committed presidents and talented athletics administrators who have positioned the Conference as one of the most innovative and stable conferences in Division I.”

Fullerton, the Hamilton native, is the fifth commissioner in the history of the Conference, taking the reins in 1995 after serving 10 years as Montana State’s athletic director.

He has been one of the longest serving and most recognized commissioners in Division I. During his tenure, he has served as president of the Division I Collegiate Commissioners Association and was the first-ever Chair of the Men’s Collegiate Basketball Officiating Association.

In addition, he was a member of the inaugural College Football Officiating Organization Board of Directors as well as a member of the board of the NCAA Football and various other NCAA-related committees and organizations. Most recently, he completed a six-year term on the prestigious Men’s Basketball Committee, involved in the selection and management of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Fullerton graduated from Hamilton High School in 1964 and earned his Bachelor’s Degree at California Western University, where he lettered in both basketball and baseball. Returning to his home state, he was a pilot and Commander in the Montana National Guard, and has been concurrently involved in athletics since the early 1970s as a high school and college basketball coach, and then as an administrator. He earned his MA from Montana State University in 1986.

“The relationship Doug has with the Presidents has been the hallmark of his tenure as Commissioner,” said Scott Wyatt, President of Southern Utah University and current Chair of the Conference President’s Council. “He has guided the Conference through the turbulent times of conference realignment and actually grew and strengthened our position in Division I during that time. He is a friend to us all and he will be missed. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

“I will miss dearly the excitement of working in this industry, and still believe strongly in what we are able to do for the extraordinary young people we work with every day,” Fullerton said. “However, the time has arrived for me to get on with the plans I have for myself and my family.

“The Conference is perfectly positioned for what I believe will be even more changes in the future, and I am very proud of what we have built and what the conference is poised to become.”

The search for a successor will begin immediately under the direction of the Big Sky Conference President’s Council.