Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White announced four staff additions Friday, as Dr. Mónica Lebrón, Cameron Walker, Marcus Hilliard and Amy Sterk are joining his staff.
Lebrón and Walker hold Deputy AD titles and—along with Deputy AD for Finance & Operations/Chief Operating Officer Reid Sigmon—compose White’s executive leadership team.
“We’ve got a lot of very important work ahead of us as we chart a new course for Tennessee Athletics,” White said. “I’ve been thoughtful and strategic about each of these new additions to our staff, and I’m confident that their collective knowledge and experiences will boost our ability to operate with maximum efficiency. There are a lot of talented people and outstanding things happening here at Tennessee, while there are clearly some areas that need restoration. We’re going to modernize our approach and be forward thinking in our daily efforts to provide championship opportunities for our student-athletes, and these hires will help us build our bright future.”
Dr. Mónica Lebrón – Deputy AD for Championship Resources
Prior to her hiring at Tennessee, Lebrón (pronounced: luh-BRON) oversaw all internal and external day-to-day operations for Tulane athletics as deputy AD/chief operating officer dating to 2016. She also served as chief diversity officer for the Green Wave.
A native of San Jose, California, Lebrón was Tulane’s sport administrator for football, women’s basketball, beach volleyball and sailing. In addition to facilitating scheduling and budget management for those programs, she also directed revenue-generation efforts for Tulane’s comprehensive athletics program.
Lebrón’s time at Tulane was preceded by four years of senior-level experience in the Southeastern Conference. She worked as an assistant AD for development at Ole Miss in 2012 before being elevated to associate AD in 2014. She then transitioned to Georgia, where she served as associate AD for development. Under her direction, the UGA athletics development team raised a then-record $56.96 million for the 2016 fiscal year.
In addition to her time at Georgia and Ole Miss, Lebrón served as senior major gifts officer (2008-11) and senior associate director (2011-12) at Cal, where she fostered a portfolio of more than 500 donors. She also worked in various capacities at Florida with Gator Boosters, Inc., from 2004-08, working closely with UF’s athletics alumni base.
A 2001 Yale graduate, Lebrón was a four-year letterwinner and starter on the Bulldogs’ softball team. She then earned her master of Sports Administration and MBA from Ohio University in 2003.
Most recently, in the spring of 2019, she earned her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Tulane.
Cameron Walker – Deputy AD for Competitive Excellence
Walker worked closely alongside White at UCF—ultimately as executive associate AD for compliance—dating to May of 2016, and when White accepted the AD job at Tennessee, Walker accompanied him to Knoxville.
From his arrival at UCF until July 2018, Walker served in the role of senior associate athletics director before his promotion to executive associate AD. During his time in Orlando, Walker managed compliance and drug testing and was sport administrator for UCF’s men’s and women’s tennis teams. He also was the lead compliance contact for the football program. Walker served as a member of the athletics executive staff and was a member of the UCF Compliance and Ethics Advisory Committee as well as the athletics liaison to UCF Student Development and Enrollment Services.
Prior to his tenure at UCF, Walker served as associate athletic director at Utah Valley University, where his various roles included oversight of compliance, academic performance, student-athlete development and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Walker spearheaded several department-wide enhancements, including the addition of numerous staff positions, the renovation of the Wolverine Service Center, professional development programs and the implementation of several academic progress improvement plans. Resources for those items were secured through several NCAA SSF and AASP grants, which were written, implemented and overseen by Walker.
In his six years at Utah Valley, Walker also served in several leadership capacities on campus committees, including: Title IX deputy coordinator, student affairs senator for the Professional Association of Campus Employees and team lead for the Program Enrichment and Evaluative Review Team, which evaluated other departments and identified solutions to problems or inefficiencies.
As an adjunct professor at UVU, Walker taught courses including business law, contract drafting, legal research & writing, student leadership and student success.
Prior to his time at Utah Valley, Walker completed his Juris Doctorate degree at Arkansas, graduating cum laude.
A native of Rexburg, Idaho, Walker earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Southern Virginia in 2007.
He was a baseball student-athlete at Ricks College and Southern Virginia where, as a junior and senior, he was team captain and a two-time Academic All-American. Following his playing career, he was an assistant baseball coach at Southern Virginia from 2006-07.
Walker and his wife, Heather, have one daughter, Aleksandra, and three sons: Hudson, McCann and Jackson.
Marcus Hilliard – Associate AD/Chief of Staff
A Tennessee graduate, Hilliard comes to Tennessee after administrative tenures at Austin Peay and Central Florida.
From the fall of 2018 until his hiring at Tennessee, Hilliard served as senior associate AD for external affairs at Austin Peay, where he oversaw external operations that included communications, marketing and fan experience, branding and licensing, ticketing, video production, social media and the Govs Club. He was also sport administrator for the Governors baseball program as well as band and cheer and dance.
Hilliard also worked closely with APSU’s corporate sponsors and official apparel provider.
Beginning in 2016, Hilliard worked alongside White at UCF as director of constituent relations before his promotion to assistant AD for administration in the summer of 2017. White’s chief of staff, Hilliard also shouldered development and corporate sponsorship responsibilities for the Knights’ athletics department. During his time at UCF, Hilliard played an integral role in helping to achieve consecutive record-breaking years in fundraising, aided in part by the football program’s 13-0 finish in 2017 that was capped with a Peach Bowl triumph over Auburn.
Prior to his two years at UCF, Hilliard spent seven years at Duke, where he ultimately served as director of the Iron Dukes Varsity Club.
Hilliard’s father, David Cutcliffe, is the head football coach at Duke and previously served as a longtime assistant and offensive coordinator at Tennessee (1982-98) and head coach at Ole Miss (1998-2004).
A native of Oxford, Mississippi, Hilliard earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Tennessee in 2009 while also serving as a student equipment manager for the football program. He completed his master’s degree in Sport Management from NC State in 2015 and is a member of NACDA, NACMA and NAADD.
Amy Sterk – Assistant AD for Executive Operations
Sterk comes to Tennessee after working closely with White for nearly four years at Central Florida.
Hired as UCF’s assistant director of administration in March of 2017, she quickly earned a promotion to director of executive operations in August of 2018. In that role, she coordinated all day-to-day operations for White and his executive leadership team. She also executed special projects and assisted with strategic communication plans for the UCFAA Board of Directors, athletics staff and campus constituents.
Later this spring, Sterk will receive her MBA from UCF.
Prior to her time in Orlando, Sterk—whose father, Jim Sterk, is the director of athletics at Missouri—spent three years as a staff accountant with the San Diego Padres. The Pullman, Washington, native started her career in athletics administration by serving as a business intern at Gonzaga in 2013.
Sterk was a member of the Whitworth University women’s soccer team from 2010-13 and served as a captain during her senior year. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2014.
-UT Athletics
