Oglethorpe University welcomed alumna and nationally recognized sports business analyst Kristi Dosh ’03 back to campus Tuesday evening as the spring 2026 speaker in the Mack A. Rikard Lecture Series, hosted by the Hammack School of Business. 

Held in the I.W. “Ike” Cousins Center for Science and Innovation, the lecture brought together students, faculty and community members for a timely conversation on the rapidly evolving business of college athletics, including Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), media rights and regulatory change. 

“Kristi shows our students what is possible when talent meets opportunity and when a liberal arts education meets a rapidly changing world,” Oglethorpe President Kathryn McClymond said, emphasizing the connection between Dosh’s career and the university’s liberal arts mission. 

Dosh, who earned her bachelor’s degree in politics from Oglethorpe, has built a national reputation as an authority on the business of college athletics. She is the founder of BusinessOfCollegeSports.com, a widely used industry resource, and the author of Saturday Millionaires: How Winning Football Builds Winning Colleges and The Athlete’s NIL Playbook. Her reporting and analysis have appeared in ESPN, Forbes, The Washington Post and Sports Business Journal, among other outlets. 

During the lecture, Dosh explored how legal, financial and policy decisions are reshaping college sports, while offering students practical insight into an industry defined by rapid change and competing interests. She also reflected on how her Oglethorpe education prepared her for a career spanning law, journalism and consulting. 

“Writing is the foundation of everything I do,” Dosh said. “My time at Oglethorpe really honed my writing skills, and that ability to think clearly and communicate precisely is what allows me to do the work I do today. No matter the platform or the audience, it always comes back to writing well.” 

Stephen Craft, dean of the Hammack School of Business, said Dosh’s visit exemplified the purpose of the Rikard Lecture Series. 

“Kristi’s work sits at the intersection of law, finance, athletics and public policy,” Craft said. “That’s where many of today’s most interesting business challenges live. Our students benefit tremendously from hearing directly from leaders who are navigating those complexities in real time.” 

Established in 1991, the Mack A. Rikard Lecture Series introduces students to contemporary business issues through presentations by distinguished leaders across industries. It is named for Mack A. Rikard ’37, an Oglethorpe alumnus, Trustee Emeritus and former president of Allied Products Company, whose support for athletics and student scholarships helped make the series possible. 

As McClymond noted, the evening reflected the legacy Rikard envisioned: connecting students with professionals who bring insight, integrity and  perspective to their work, and who demonstrate the lasting value of an Oglethorpe education.