The Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) announced today that Kevin Warren has been named the sixth commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. He will start on September 16, 2019, to take full advantage of an opportunity to transition alongside Commissioner Jim Delany, who will officially step down on January 1, 2020 following a 30-year career with the conference.
Warren is the Chief Operating Officer for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League where he has worked since 2005. He is the highest-ranking African-American executive working on the business side for a team in the NFL and is the first African-American COO in NFL history.