Former Kansas State safety Erick Harper is in his fourth year as athletics director at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, or UNLV, after being promoted to serve as UNLV's 14th permanent Director of Athletics on Jan. 1, 2022. Harper served as UNLV's Interim Director of Athletics from August 16, 2021, to December 31, 2021. As UNLV's AD, Harper oversees all aspects of the athletics department and the Thomas & Mack Center, including general operations, fiscal affairs, facilities, strategic planning, and external relations. Prior to becoming Director of Athletics, Harper served nine years as UNLV's senior associate athletics director for development. Harper has been in university athletics administration for more than 30 years. He joined UNLV as associate athletics director for development in 2012. In that role, he oversaw fundraising efforts for the department and served as a sports administrator for multiple sports, including football and women's golf. Prior to joining UNLV, Harper served as associate athletics director for football operations at the University of Arizona from 2003 to 2011. He began his athletics administrative career at Kansas State University (1990-2003), where he served in development, marketing, and compliance roles, as well as in a sport administrator capacity for multiple sports. Harper earned his bachelor's degree in 1992 from Kansas State, where he was a four-year starter and standout defensive back for the Wildcats football team. He later earned a master's in organizational management and leadership from Ashford University in 2013.  Harper and his wife, Dr. Patrice Hester-Harper, who holds three degrees (bachelor's, master's, PhD) from UNLV and is currently associate vice president for development and principal gifts for the university, have two daughters, Sydney (17) and Avery (8)..

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Blueville Nursery in Manhattan, Kansas, sponsors the Life of Fitz podcast.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio, daily YouTube videos, and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for more than 25 years. Fitz also has metastatic Stage Four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, after a brief period of remission, Fitz is back in the fight for his life, but this podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

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