Aug. 30, 2002

Rob Mullens, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Maryland, and Joe Sharpe, the Director of Ticket Operations at the University of Washington, will join the staff of the University of Kentucky Athletics Association, announced Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart on Friday.

Mullens has been hired as the new Executive Associate Athletics Director and will assist Barnhart in the overall management of the athletics department. He's worked for the Terrapins since 1996 with internal operations, most recently serving as Chief of Staff. Among his numerous duties, he served as Maryland athletics' Chief Financial Officer, and will continue in a similar role at Kentucky.

Sharpe, the Wildcats' new Assistant Athletics Director for tickets, has worked at Washington for the past two years, overseeing all aspects of ticketing for Husky sporting events, including the management of 65,000 season football tickets.

"As I continue to get my staff in place, these two individuals will play very important roles for the future of this athletics department," Barnhart said. "They are proven professionals at two highly respected institutions in NCAA athletics. Rob has played a key administrative role for a BCS school that has experienced incredible successes in recent years. Joe has a resume which includes stops at championship level programs."

Mullens graduated cum laude from West Virginia in 1991 with a degree in business administration. After earning his master's in '93, he began his career in athletics at Kentucky, serving as an intern in athletics administration. In 1994, he was named assistant business manager at the University of Miami (Fla.) athletics department and before leaving for Maryland, was named the Hurricanes' senior business manager and chief budget officer. With the Terps, he was directly responsible for the department's $32 million annual budget and capital debt repayment plan while helping supervise the business and ticket offices, facilities, operations and information technology.

"My wife and I are extremely excited about the opportunity to join the University of Kentucky Athletics Association which has a rich tradition in athletics," said Mullens, whose wife, Jane, also served as an Assistant Athletics Director at Maryland. "UK is a great institution with an incredibly loyal and supportive fan base. Mitch and I share a similar set of core values and I look forward to partnering with him and implementing his vision to provide a first-class experience with UK student-athletes."

Sharpe, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Florida State, was instrumental in the development of web ticketing for Husky sporting events. He worked for his alma mater, Fresno State, the East Coast Hockey League and Oregon State before joining the Huskies two years ago.

"I look forward to reuniting with Mitch Barnhart at Kentucky," he said. "I was there when he rejuvenated the Oregon State athletics program and I know he plans to inject that same energy and excitement into athletics at Kentucky."

Sharpe plans to begin working at UK in mid-September. Mullens' hiring is pending approval by the University's Board of Trustees at its next meeting.