Anthony Franklin
Adjunct College of Hospitality & Business Hospitality Online
Biography and Expertise
Dr.Franklin is an accomplished sport management scholar, educator, and administrator with more than two decades of experience spanning higher education, intercollegiate athletics, sport facility management, and recreation administration. He currently serves as Professor of Sport Management at the University of Mount Olive (UMO), where he leads the Sport Management area and contributes as a dedicated member of the Institutional Review Board, Promotions Committee, and Academic Curriculum Council.
At UMO, Dr. Franklin has spearheaded major academic innovations, including redevelopment of the sport management curriculum, creation of new online and traditional courses, and the design of a proposed MBA in Sport Administration. He also was recently hired as an Adjunct Professor in the SEEM program at Johnson and Wales University. His student-focused approach has resulted in tripling enrollment in the Sport Management program over eight years, earning the highest marks on faculty evaluations, and consistently strong student ratings. In 2025, he was promoted to Full Professor, while continuing to contribute as a visiting lecturer at North Carolina State University in past appointments as well.
Dr. Franklin has built a vast professional network, collaborating with sport executives from organizations such as the USGA, Pinehurst Resort, Durham Bulls, UNC, Villanova, ESPN, Fox Sports, NBA, NFL, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte FC, and many others and created the UMO Sports Management Speaker Series. He regularly coordinates student development seminars, experiential learning trips, and virtual executive sessions, helping students bridge classroom learning with industry practice.
A prolific educator, Dr. Franklin teaches multiple courses per semester, advises more than 70 students, and supervises internships year-round. His active research agenda includes presentations at leading conferences such as CSRI and NCAAHPERD-SM, with recent work on management information systems in sport accepted at the 2023 College Research Institute Conference. His dissertation research explored how athletic departments and municipalities collaborate on economic policy to support intercollegiate athletic capital projects, reflecting his expertise at the intersection of sport, policy, and finance.
Before joining UMO, Dr. Franklin served as an administrator at Clemson University, where he managed over $100 million in sports and student affiars facilities and coordinated the Joint Emergency Operations Center for Clemson Football, overseeing game-day operations serving more than 200,000 attendees. He also contributed to emergency management planning for all campus facilities, staff development, and multi million-dollar capital improvement projects. His prior experiences include roles with Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University, Bradley University, the City of Carbondale, and the Peoria Park District.
Dr. Franklin holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from Clemson University (with an emphasis in Sports Management), an M.S. in HPER (Sport Management/Athletic Administration) from Illinois State University, and a B.S. in Recreation Administration from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he was a full scholarship Division I-AA football student-athlete.
His teaching portfolio encompasses sport finance, sport law, sport marketing, sport facility design and operations, leadership communication, research methods, and more. He combines academic rigor with multidimensional pedagogy, technology integration, and holistic life-skill development to prepare students for success in both their careers and lives.
Dedicated to advancing the sport management discipline, Dr.Franklin continues to engage in research, teaching, and professional collaboration while mentoring the next generation of sport leaders. His passion for student success, leadership, innovation, and industry partnership defines his career and fuels his ongoing contributions to higher education.
(For a more extensive account pertaining to all sections within the FIS, please review CV).
Education
PhD
Clemson University
MS
Illinois State University
BS
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Transparent Teaching Fellow
Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT Higher Ed)
Promoted to Full Professor
University of Mount Olive