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Staff Directory
- Title:
- The Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics
- Email:
Martin Jarmond, a nationally recognized leader in college athletics, has built an impressive track record of competitive excellence, innovative strategy and student athlete success. A two-time recipient of Sports Business Journalโs Forty Under 40 Award with over 20 years in sports administration spanning three conferences, Jarmond has guided UCLA to new heights through his culture of an E.L.I.T.E. mindset โ Energy, Leadership, Integrity, Toughness and Excellence.
His results-driven strategies combined with a relentless work ethic to elevate UCLA Athletics have helped to create an exceptional experience for student-athletes and fans alike. Over Jarmondโs first five seasons in Westwood, UCLA has won six NCAA championships in the sports of menโs water polo (2020, 2024), womenโs soccer (2022), menโs volleyball (2023, 2024) and womenโs water polo (2024). UCLA teams have also totaled 27 conference championships under his watch, including 10 combined Big Ten and MPSF titles in 2024-25, the most amongst all Big Ten schools.
Jarmond worked closely with campus leadership while playing a critical role in UCLA Athletics applying and being accepted for future membership in the Big Ten Conference in June of 2022. The Bruins began their historic first season in the Big Ten Conference on August 2, 2024. He also negotiated a new multimedia rights deal with JMI Sports that will run through 2035.
UCLAโs first year in the Big Ten Conference in 2024-25 was a huge success, as the Bruins captured seven Big Ten titles, tied for second-most in the conference. Bruin teams won Big Ten Tournament titles in womenโs soccer, womenโs basketball, gymnastics, menโs tennis, and menโs golf and regular season crowns in gymnastics and baseball. Buoyed by a NCAA Championship by the menโs water polo team and runner-up finishes by gymnastics and menโs volleyball, UCLA finished in fifth place in the 2024-25 Learfield Directorโs Cup standings, its highest finish since 2018. UCLA was also the only school in the nation to advance both baseball and softball teams to the College World Series, as well as the only school with both menโs and womenโs teams playing in the World Series and March Madness.
The 2024-25 season built off the success of the previous year, when UCLA finished in the Top 10 of the Learfield Directorโs Cup for the first time since 2018-19. The 2023-24 Bruins had five teams competing on the final day for an NCAA Championship. In an eight-day span in May 2024, the Bruins achieved victories in both menโs volleyball and womenโs water polo.
Jarmond was hired on May 19, 2020 as UCLAโs Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics, becoming the ninth athletic director in school history. He made an immediate impact on the Bruins, jumpstarting the Voting Matters Initiative, the first of its kind in the country which assisted student-athletes in discovering the tools needed to exact meaningful change through civic duty. Jarmond engineered a partnership between UCLA and Nike/Jordan Brand, becoming only the fifth Jordan brand school in the nation and the first partnership with Nike in UCLA history. The six-year agreement between UCLA and Nike provides for 22 of the 25 UCLA varsity sports with Nike apparel, while football, menโs basketball and womenโs basketball don Jordan Brand. Jarmond exhibits a strong commitment to mental health awareness, and his emphasis on diversity and inclusion was recognized in a 2021 SBJ award for being a national leader in diversity and inclusive hiring. He was the Pac-12 Conference representative to the NCAA Division I Menโs Basketball Committee for 2021-22 and serves on the Geffen Academy and McLendon Foundation Boards.
Through Jarmondโs instrumental leadership, UCLA Athletics has positioned itself at the forefront of a rapidly-changing collegiate athletics landscape. In the burgeoning area of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), Jarmond and UCLA Athletics launched โWestwood Ascent,โ a comprehensive NIL program that supports UCLAโs student-athletes, helping them build their personal brands and maximize their NIL opportunities. In addition, the โWestwood Exchangeโ was established as a free business registry designed for companies, donors, fans and alumni that want to connect directly with UCLA's student-athletes interested in capitalizing on their NIL. In the Fall of 2024, UCLA Athleticsโ official NIL collective was restructured under the Champion of Westwood umbrella to streamline NIL opportunities for UCLA student-athletes.
Extensive work by Jarmond and his staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that all Bruin teams could compete safely during the 2020-21 academic year, Jarmondโs first at UCLA. Bruin teams won four conference titles that year and the menโs water polo program won its 12th national championship in the spring of 2021. The menโs basketball team embarked on a remarkable journey, advancing from the First Four to the 2021 NCAA Final Four, UCLAโs first national semifinal appearance since 2008. These athletic achievements were balanced by record numbers of student-athletes earning spots on the conference all-academic squads, with 49 individuals earning a perfect 4.0 GPA for the Winter Quarter, and 131 student-athletes earning their UCLA degrees. For the first time ever, the Bruins produced multiple winners of the NCAA Elite 90 Award. Four student-athletes were recognized by CoSIDA as Academic All-Americans.
Jarmond came to UCLA from Boston College, where he served as the schoolโs Director of Athletics for three years. During his time there, he orchestrated the Eaglesโ first-ever strategic plan, a comprehensive five-year goal to advance the program by fostering student-athlete formation, strengthening competitive excellence, increasing external engagement and enhancing facilities. The strategic plan was supported by BCโs first-ever athletics-only capital campaign, at the time, the largest campaign of any Atlantic Coast Conference institution at $150 million. Jarmond hired high-impact coaches in football, womenโs basketball, softball, volleyball, swimming & diving, menโs soccer, womenโs soccer and fencing. Jarmond served on the NCAA Division I Menโs Basketball Oversight Committee and on the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors.
Prior to joining Boston College in 2017 and becoming the youngest athletic director of any Power Five institution at age 37, Jarmond previously served as deputy director of athletics at Ohio State, moving up the ranks after arriving as an associate athletic director for development in 2009. During his time at Ohio State, he was the lead administrator for a variety of sports, including football and menโs basketball, and directed external and internal relations and day-today operations. He also had responsibility for football scheduling, served on the NCAA Division I Womenโs Golf Committee, and was a member of the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Advisory Group and the Rose Bowl Advisory Committee. As Ohio State Athleticsโ chief advancement officer, Jarmond helped raise more than $120 million between 2010-2012.
Jarmond was also an assistant athletic director for development for seven years at Michigan State, where he served on the athletic directorโs executive leadership team. He was a key member of the $1.2 billion โCampaign for MSUโ development team and a liaison between Michigan Stateโs university development and alumni association leadership. Jarmond led the efforts to implement Scholarship Seating in football and Courtside seating in menโs basketball.
A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Jarmond, 45, earned a bachelorโs degree in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. A two-year captain of the menโs basketball team, he led his team to the programโs first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2000 and earned Colonial Athletic Association All-Academic honors in 2001. He holds both a M.B.A. and a masterโs in sports administration from Ohio University. Jarmond is married to Dr. Jessica Jarmond, a dentist. They have three daughters: Scarlett, Savannah and Serena.
Updated Aug. 8, 2025
