Forrest Karr has served as Director of Athletics at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) since August 2022 and is in his 22nd year as director of athletics at an NCAA member school. Karr also teaches Business Law for UMD's Labovitz School of Business and Economics, and serves on the Downtown Duluth Board of Directors and as part-time Executive Director of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
During Karr's tenure, UMD has hosted the 2025 and 2026 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the 2025 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Final Faceoff, and the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Frozen Four. In addition, UMD student-athletes have earned 16 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. On the court, the UMD women’s basketball team earned NCAA Division II Central Region championships in 2023 and 2026—finishing as 2023 National Runner-Up for the first time in program history, and the UMD men’s basketball team won the 2023 Central Region title to advance to the Division II Elite Eight for the first time.
Nationally, Karr is a recognized advocate for student-athlete health, safety and wellness. As chair of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (2015–2017), Karr led some of the most important health care initiatives in the association’s history, including successfully championing Independent Medical Care legislation adopted across Divisions I, II, and III, and the establishment of the Athletics Health Care Administrator designation. In addition, he has served on the NCAA Drug-Test Appeal Subcommittee (2013–2025), the NCAA Board of Governors appointed Campus Sexual Violence Implementation Task Force (2020–2021) and the NCAA Division I Concussion Safety Protocol Committee (2015–2019), and chaired the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee (2008–2010).
Karr has also served in various conference leadership positions. He has chaired the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Athletic Council (2025–2026), the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Management Council (2008–2009, 2020–2022), the WCHA Management Council (2015–2016), and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Management Council and Executive Committee (2013–2014). Throughout these roles, Karr has authored articles of incorporation, constitutions and bylaws, and modernized governance structures for multiple athletic conferences.
A frequent speaker on sports-related legal topics, Karr has served as a moderator or panelist for the Sports Lawyers Association (SLA), NCAA Convention, State Bar of Michigan Bench Bar Conference, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Senior Administrators Mentoring Institute, NCAA Regional Rules Seminar, National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School, Faculty Athletics Representatives Association (FARA) Annual Meeting, and the University of Wisconsin Law School. Since 2008, he has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses, including Business Law, Cyber Law, Managing Employment Relations, and The Intersection of Sports, Antitrust, and Labor and Employment Law, among others. He has also taught as a visiting faculty member for the prestigious Sports Management Institute executive education program.
Karr previously served as Director of Athletics at Northern Michigan University (NMU). During his tenure, NMU started five NCAA DII programs: 1) women’s golf; 2) men’s swimming and diving; 3) women’s lacrosse; 4) men’s soccer; and 5) women's wrestling. In addition, Karr hired nine head coaches who have earned conference and/or national coach of the year recognition, and NMU student-athletes earned 145 All-America honors, 127 Honorable Mention All-America awards, six CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, and five individual NCAA championships. Karr also led the department through two strategic plans and a rebranding process, initiated a licensing program, and secured partnerships with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, USA Wrestling, and USA Weightlifting. Karr's volunteer activities included serving as a shift leader for the Marquette Mountain Ski Patrol, a youth coach for Marquette Junior Hockey and vice chair of the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Marquette and Alger Counties.
Prior to NMU, Karr served as Director of Athletics for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. During his tenure, Nanook student-athletes won three team and three individual NCAA championships. In addition, the university set an NCAA attendance record while hosting the 2007 NCAA Rifle Championships. While leading the Nanooks, Karr hired three head coaches who earned conference and/or national coach of the year honors. He also oversaw the addition of a women's swimming program, established the Nanook Hall of Fame, initiated a partnership with the Collegiate Licensing Company, oversaw a rebranding process, and worked with academic leaders to start a Sport Management program. Karr's volunteer activities in Alaska included serving on the Moose Mountain Ski Patrol, chairing the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska from 2009-10 and hiring a CEO for the statewide agency and co-chairing the 2010 United Way of the Tanana Valley fundraising campaign.
Karr previously clerked for the NCAA Office of Legal Affairs under current NCAA Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Scott Bearby, and clerked at Garvey & Stoddard, S.C. under former National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Executive Director Ed Garvey.
Karr is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Sports Lawyers Association (SLA). He is also a graduate of the Sports Management Institute's executive education program. Karr played hockey at the University of Notre Dame and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in Finance and Business Economics from the Mendoza College of Business along with a Concentration in Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He earned the team's most valuable player honor as a senior and was named a member of the Academic All-America second team. After his collegiate career, Karr played one year of professional hockey in the ECHL and then coached with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
Karr and his wife, Cara, have two daughters, Callia and Colette.
