Mark Dienhart is the former athletic director

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 at the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 and the current Senior Vice President at the University of St. Thomas

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...

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Dienhart attended DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and was a multi-sport athlete in college at St. Thomas. He was the Division III National Champion in the shot put at St. Thomas, the first individual national championship in school history. He was an offensive lineman on the football team and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the 1975 NFL Draft

1975 NFL Draft

The 1975 National Football League Draft was held on January 28–29, 1975.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...

. Dienhart coached football and track at St. Thomas from 1981 to 1986 and led the Tommies to the 1985 Division III Indoor National Championship.

Dienhart served as the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...

 athletics director from 1995 until 2000, when his contract was not renewed following the academic scandal in the men's basketball

Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905...

 program under Clem Haskins

Clem Haskins

Clem Smith Haskins is a retired American college and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He and star player Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball program in the fall of 1963. This put Western Kentucky at the...

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Dienhart joined the administration at St. Thomas in 2001. At St. Thomas, Dienhart is in charge of increasing the university's endowment.