NORM O’REILLY
Founding Dean, College of Business, University of New England

Dr. O’Reilly is a high-performing academician with strong industry links who is recognized globally as one of the leading scholars in the business of sports. He is widely published, a regular media contributor, an active consultant, and an expert witness in legal cases.  

In April 2024, Norm O’Reilly was named the inaugural Dean of the College of Business, the university’s 7th and most recently launched College. The University of New England (UNE) is a burgeoning comprehensive private university with campuses in Biddeford and Portland, in Maine, and Tangiers Morrocco. In addition to being the academic and operational leader of the College, Dr. O’Reilly is a full professor and is the faculty director for the upstart Center for Sport, Business & Health at UNE.  

Prior to taking up the Deanship at UNE, Dr. O’Reilly was the Dean of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Maine, where he led the university’s graduate business programs, including its nationally ranked MaineMBA, through a period of growth and formalization. Before coming to Maine, Dr. O’Reilly held leadership positions at the Lang School of Business & Economics at the University of Guelph, the Department of Sports Administration at Ohio University’s College of Business, and the School of Sports Administration at Laurentian University. He has taught at the University of Ottawa, Syracuse University, Stanford University, Ryerson University, Athabasca University, Bayreuth University, and the Russian International Olympic University. 

Dr. O’Reilly holds a PhD in Management from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, an MBA from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, a MA in Sports Administration from the University of Ottawa, and a B.Sc. (Kinesiology) from the University of Waterloo. He also holds the CPA Accounting Designation.  

Dr. O’Reilly has expertise in a range of business topics, including analytics, marketing, sponsorship, social media, sport finance, social marketing, physical activity, and management education. He has authored or co-authored 20 books, 14 case studies in the Harvard/Stanford series, and more than 165 peer-reviewed journal articles. His books include the highly successful Fall 2022 release of Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice, published by the University of Toronto Press.  The 2016 (1st Edition) and 2020 (2nd Edition) releases of Sports Business Management: Decision Making Around the Globe with George Foster and Tony Davila, and the 2017 (1st Edition) and 2021 (2nd Edition) versions of 20 Secrets to Success for NCAA Student-Athletes, with Rick Burton, Jake Hirschman, Andy Dolich, and Heather Lawrence have both been widely adopted inside and outside of the classroom. At conferences, he has won numerous Best Paper awards and has more than 300 conference presentations to his credit. Dr. O’Reilly is the lead researcher on the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study, currently in its 18th edition. For the last 15 years, he has written a regular column with Rick Burton (Syracuse University) for Sport Business Journal, the leading trade publication in the industry.  

Dr. O’Reilly works closely with industry. In 2015, Dr. O’Reilly was awarded the Distinguished Career Contributions to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business Award by the American Marketing Association’s Sport Marketing Special Interest Group. He was recognized in 2013 as one of the “Five to Watch” in sport business in Canada by the Globe and Mail and is a lifetime Research Fellow of the North American Society for Sport Management. In 2011, he was the recipient of the University of Ottawa’s Media Excellence Award (for media coverage of his research) and often comments in major television, web, and print media. For more than a 15 years, he has been minority owner and partner consultant with the Toronto-based agency, T1, with clients including Nike, UFC, Pepsi, Nissan, Esso/Exxon, Mondeles, Shell, Gatorade, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Hockey Canada, UFC, and many others. He also acts as a specialist on legal cases and has sat on the boards of many global and national sport organizations.  

Dr. O’Reilly was ‘Assistant Chef de Mission’ for the Canadian Paralympic Team at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil and was a member of the 2004, 2008 and 2010 Mission Staff for the Canadian Olympic Team. He attended the 2012 Olympic Games in a research capacity and recently was at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  

Prior to joining academia, Dr. O’Reilly worked in a variety of roles, including administration, government, policy, event management, biotechnology, and as an entrepreneur in two start-ups. Specific roles of note include managing director of OTM Knowledge Services, senior policy officer at Sport Canada, and event manager for the 2008 Toronto Olympic Bid.  

A Canadian, Dr. O’Reilly is an avid world traveler, having now visited more than 50 countries around the world, many in a professional capacity. He has attended 7 Olympic/Paralympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and many world championships and professional sporting events. He is a former university-level Nordic skier and swimmer, where he was twice named an Academic All-Canadian and was part of the 1996 OUA champions at the University of Waterloo in Nordic skiing. He is a long-time triathlete, having represented Canada as an age-grouper at 5 World Championships. He has completed 11 Ironman triathlons, including the World Ironman Championships in the Fall of 2023, 12 marathons, and more than 350 triathlons total. He is also an avid ice hockey player and masters swimmer. In 2019, he placed 3rd in his age group in the 1500m freestyle at the Ontario Masters Swimming Championships. In 2018, 2022, and 2024, he qualified for the Boston Marathon.