Teresa Gould has been promoted to commissioner of the Pac-12 athletic conference, making her the first woman to serve as commissioner at any Autonomy Five conference. Her promotion follows the conference’s recent parting of ways with former commissioner George Kliavkoff, whose leadership was unable to prevent ten schools from leaving the conference over the past two years.
Gould has served the Pac-12 conference as deputy commissioner since 2018. Prior to joining the Pac-12 staff, she worked for the University of California, Davis as interim director of athletics, associate executive director and chief revenue officer of the alumni program, and director of the UC Davis Partnership Program. She also served the University of California, Berkeley for 13 years in a number of positions including deputy director of athletics, external relations, and chief of staff to the athletic director. Outside of her experience in higher education, Gould worked for ESPN for three years in conference coordination and rights acquisition.
“Teresa’s deep knowledge of collegiate athletics and unwavering commitment to student-athletes makes her uniquely qualified to help guide the Pac-12 Conference during this period of unprecedented change in college sports,” said Kirk Schulz, Washington State University President and chair of the Pac-12 Board of Directors. “As the first female commissioner of an Autonomy Five conference, Teresa will be able to bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to the table as the industry works to find its way through this shifting landscape.”
Gould received her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in education from the University of California Berkeley.