University of Maryland Athletics

Kirby Mills was named Senior Associate Athletic Director/Chief Development Officer for Maryland Athletics in December 2022. He enters his fourth school year in his role in 2024-25. 

Mills returns to his alma mater after serving as Associate Athletic Director, Development at Arizona State University. He has served in various development roles with the Sun Devils since 2017 where he led the fundraising unit in achieving collective team goals of generating more than $32.5M annually in new gifts and commitments from more than 10,000 unique donors. Mills oversaw all philanthropic giving in support of Arizona State Athletics through management and development of a diverse team of professional fundraisers focusing on one-on-one donor engagement, annual fund efforts and donor experience. He was responsible for managing a portfolio of high capacity donors and individually secured more than $4M in new gifts and commitments annually. 

In his time at Arizona State, Mills received progressive promotions from Director of Major Gifts to Assistant Athletic Director to his current role as Associate Athletic Director. With the Sun Devils, Mills individually raised nearly $25M through donor support, including cash and gift planning commitments towards endowments, facilities, program needs and other departmental priorities. He has also been an instrumental part of a team that raised more than $100M over the last five years. He elevated the leadership giving efforts by building a pipeline leading to seven and eight figure donations. Mills individually secured an eight-figure commitment tied to the donor recognition of the recently dedicated Mullett Arena, a new multi-purpose venue, home of Arizona State ice hockey and the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. 

Prior to his time in The Valley, Mills worked at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2015-17 where he finished his time as the Assistant Athletic Director, External Relations. Mills directed the revenue generation initiatives for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, supporting all 20 NCAA Division III programs by enhancing fundraising operations and implementing a corporate partner program. He also served as primary resource raiser and led a team of support personnel to build sustainable revenue models and increase external engagement through high-impact recognition and stewardship of corporate and philanthropic investors.

Before Whitewater, Mills worked various roles at Maryland from 2012-15. He served as the Assistant Director of Development in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences in 2014-15. Prior to that, he was Assistant Director of Football Operations/Outreach as well as a position handling Football Social Media and Operations Coordinator and working in the athletic department as a student worker. 

Mills is a native of Georgetown, Delaware and continues a family legacy of Terrapins as three generations of his family attended Maryland. He grew up going to Maryland football games, sitting in Section 17, Row R. Mills and his wife Leah have a son Foster and a daughter Everett.

Updated January 9, 2025