Phil Esten is no stranger to big-time college athletics, serving tours of duty at UC Berkeley, Penn State, and the University of Minnesota. It was a natural that UST looked to him to guide the school’s unprecedented transition from Division III athletics to Division I, since the goal was never about better football, but instead about extending its brand and putting UST in a national conversation for prospective students. “We’re leveraging athletics to tell a story beyond this marketplace,” he explains. 2024 is all about staying on that path, while completing fundraising for and breaking ground on UST’s Lee and Penny Anderson Arena for hockey and basketball on the St. Paul campus.

Return to TCB 100 for 2024