Mentorship Matters

Erick Harper has worked in university athletics administration for more than 30 years. He joined UNLV as senior associate athletics director for development in 2012 and has overseen fundraising efforts for the department and has served as a sport administrator for multiple sports, including football and women’s golf.

Prior to UNLV, Harper was 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 and as a sport administrator for multiple sports.

Harper received his bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Kansas State University, 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, Patrice Hester-Harper, have two daughters, Sydney (14) and Avery (5).

Laura K. Padron recently joined the UConn Foundation as the new Senior Vice President for Advancement (SVPA). A member of the foundation’s senior leadership team, Padron is responsible for leading the advancement team and will play a crucial role as the foundation embarks on the largest campaign in its history.

Padron is an innovative leader with extensive experience in development, donor relations, and campaign planning. She joins UConn from the Florida International University (FIU) Foundation, where she served as associate vice president. Padron led FIU’s $750 million Next Horizon Campaign with major gift officers across the academic colleges and schools, athletics, and student affairs.

Padron’s return to FIU in 2012 followed five years at the University of Miami, where she served as assistant dean for development at the School of Business and spearheaded the school’s role in the university’s $1.6 billion campaign. Previously, Padron served as senior director for donor relations and stewardship and established FIU’s first Donor Relations and Stewardship Office. Before working in academia, Laura directed national programs, including the Presidential Scholars in the Arts and YoungArts programs at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

“We are delighted to be able to recruit someone of Laura’s caliber and experience level to the UConn Foundation,” says Jake Lemon, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation. “I have no doubt she will build on the foundation’s recent success, and we enthusiastically welcome her into UConn Nation.”

Padron has earned multiple awards in recognition of her work, including a 2005 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Gold Award and a 2021 Global Forum for Education and Learning Top 100 Visionaries in Education Award.

Padron is a graduate of Florida State University and a former president-elect and board member of Miami’s Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Nico Yantko (pronounced: Nick-oh Yank-oh) was named the 10th athletics director in Murray State history on Aug. 15, 2022.

A Murray State alumnus, Yantko returned to Murray State University as the Racers began their first year in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23 and joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023.

Nico is a former Racer quarterback (2007-09). He returned home to Murray State after career stops at North Carolina State, the University of Missouri and the University of Louisiana.

Dr. Noelle Lefforge, Ph.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor & PPC Director of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver.

Dr. Lawrence Chatters currently serves as the Executive Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives. In addition to leading the department's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, Dr. Chatters serves as a senior administrator advising the Director of Athletics. He also provides support to the Human Resources department, directs departmental professional and leadership development, and provides oversight of the implementation and progress of Nebraska Athletics' strategic plan. Chatters is the primary sports administrator for Women's Gymnastics and Swimming and Diving and also serves as the secondary sports administrator for the men's and women's cross country and track and field programs.