Dan Emerson became Academy of Art University deputy athletics director in September 2019 after joining the program as associate athletics director of compliance/student-athlete development in January 2018.
A former compliance coordinator and most recently director of student-athlete services at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Emerson brings over 18 years of intercollegiate athletics experience to the Urban Knights.
Emerson began with the Rainbow Warriors in 2013, handling the oversight of NCAA bylaws as compliance coordinator for three years. Among his various responsibilities, he implemented the use of new compliance software, supervised recruitment of prospective student-athletes, and managed the institution's National Letter of Intent program. Transitioning into his role as director of student-athlete services, Emerson would remain heavily involved in the recruitment process while adding oversight of scholarships, financial aid, and academic evaluations.
Prior to Hawaii, Emerson completed his 12th year as a men's basketball coach, working as the associate head coach at Simon Fraser while the program transitioned from Canadian Interuniversity Sport to NCAA Division II. Emerson would also serve as associate head coach at Bellevue College, where he helped guide the Bulldogs to a 20-9 record in 2009-10. Before Bellevue, Emerson was an assistant with Seattle University's coaching staff for four seasons and helped facilitate the Redhawks' transition from NCAA Division II to Division I.
From 2004-05, Emerson spent one season at Northridge as the director of basketball operations on Bobby Braswell's coaching staff. Prior to Northridge, Emerson had a two-year stint as the video coordinator for the University of Utah. During his time, the Utes were the Mountain West Conference Tournament champions in 2003-04 and the MWC regular season championship the year prior.
Emerson began his work in college basketball as a manager at Eastern Washington in 1998-99. He then spent the next three seasons as a student assistant and head manager at EWU. In his first year as a student assistant, the Eagles tied with Montana as the Big Sky Conference's regular season co-champions.
A 2002 graduate from Eastern Washington University with a degree in Health and Fitness, Emerson also received a master's degree in Education Administration and Leadership from Grand Canyon University in June 2008.
