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COLUMBIA, Mo. – After nearly two decades in the Columbia financial and banking community, former Mizzou Athletics administrator Eric Morrison is returning to serve as the university’s Deputy Director of Athletics-Chief of External Relations, Mizzou Director of Athletics Laird Veatch announced Friday.
Morrison, a Mizzou graduate who worked in the athletics department from 1998 to 2007 in various roles, has served as the President of Sundvold Financial for the last two years, overseeing the Columbia investment firm’s daily operations and staff. Morrison recently finished his one-year term as Board Chair of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and also serves on the board of directors for Shelter Insurance Companies, the Regional Economic Development Inc., and the Columbia Area Jobs Foundation.
“I have had the fortune to know Eric for many years, dating back to when we worked closely during our tenure together at Mizzou,” Veatch said. “As we have stayed in touch since, it was clear even from afar that Eric continued to grow as a highly respected professional and business leader in the Columbia community. He also remained closely engaged with Mizzou Athletics and his passion for the people and programs at Mizzou never wavered. I am confident that Eric’s relationships within the Mizzou community will prove to be a unique advantage for our athletics programs and there could not be a better fit to lead our External Relations efforts, which will provide many returns for years to come. A warm welcome back to Eric, Amy and their son Evan to the Mizzou Athletics family.”
“Our family is beyond excited to join the Mizzou team,” Morrison said. “We are thankful to Laird and the institution for the opportunity and look forward to the work of supporting Mizzou’s student-athletes, coaches and fan base. Like so many alumni and Tiger fans, Mizzou has been a source of pride for us for most of our lives. We can’t wait to get to work in continuing that legacy well into the future. M-I-Z!!!”
Morrison joined the Mizzou athletics department shortly after earning his undergraduate degree in communications, first serving as a media relations associate before becoming the department’s coordinator for suite operations at Memorial Stadium and other athletics facilities. As the department’s Director of External Relations under longtime athletics director Mike Alden, Morrison worked on multiple special projects, including parking allocations, facility seating plans and the construction of Mizzou Arena. Morrison later moved into a fundraising position as Director of Annual Giving with the Tiger Scholarship Fund then took over as Associate Athletics Director for External Operations, having direct oversight of all external operations, including the Tiger Scholarship Fund, ticket operations, marketing, media relations and multimedia rights.
Upon leaving Mizzou in 2007, Morrison took over as Director of Business Development at Sundvold Financial, where he worked for three years, followed by 12 years at First Mid Bank & Trust (formerly Providence Bank), where he served various roles including Vice President, Community President and Regional Community Bank President. He returned to Sundvold Financial in June of 2022, leading the firm’s strategic growth initiatives while managing all revenues and expenses. Morrison is also a member of the Missouri 100 that advises and assists University of Missouri President Mun Choi as well as the Mizzou Alumni Association.
Alden described Morrison’s connections within the Columbia business community as “invaluable” in his new role at Mizzou.
“The shifting landscape of college athletics is constant every day. And for a person to have those experiences, and frankly, that type of respect amongst people in the corporate sector, the community sector and the non-profit sector, that really creates a unique combination of skill sets,” said Alden, who served as Mizzou’s athletics director from 1998 to 2015. “That will really be a big asset for the University of Missouri. That’s a real unique skill set to have all these experiences in college athletics, while at the same time building connections and respect locally, regionally and throughout the state. His involvement in projects like the airport here in Columbia or what he’s been doing with the I-70/63 expansion, those types of experiences make him uniquely qualified, particularly at this point in time in college athletics. I applaud Laird. He’s building an incredible leadership team. This is a real important piece.”
Morrison will begin at Mizzou on August 1.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT ERIC MORRISON
“I can’t think of a better person committed to the University of Missouri than Eric Morrison. He will be a great addition to Laird’s staff, and I look forward to them inspiring our programs and athletes to new heights.” – Jon Sundvold, former Mizzou men’s basketball All-American, Sundvold Financial Founder and CEO
“Under Mike Alden’s leadership, Eric served multiple roles within the athletics department while we were building our football program at Mizzou. He has since become an integral part of the business community in Columbia and developed connections across that region that will be critical in this new role. This a great addition to Laird’s leadership team.” – Gary Pinkel, former Mizzou football head coach (2001-15), 2022 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame inductee
“Eric is perfectly suited for a deputy position because of all the areas he touched in the department during a really formative time at Mizzou. He had an attitude and a spirit and an ability to say, ‘What is it that I can do to help?’ Then he assumed more and more responsibilities, which spread across everything, whether it was game operations or construction management or marketing promotions, whatever that may be. He had an opportunity to touch all those different areas. It was almost like on-the-job training, but the reason he was getting those opportunities was because he earned it.” – Mike Alden, former Mizzou Director of Athletics (1998-2015)
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