Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Athletic Director/Director, Athletic Annual Giving
- Email:
Mat Kanan joined the Our Beaver Nation staff as the director of athletic development communications on Aug. 1, 2014 after spending the past nine years at Western Michigan University, the last seven as the director of athletic media relations.
Kanan, an Ohio native, is responsible for creating communication initiatives that not only tell the story of how support given to Oregon State Athletics enhances our student-athletes’ collective experience, but also shed a light on those that give in so many ways, providing our donor community a different look into all 17 Beaver athletic programs.
Prior to joining Oregon State, Kanan served as the director of media relations at Western Michigan where he headed a staff of three full-time employees as well as the department's student-run video team. He built and enhanced the Broncos’ brand on various social media platforms, creating the department’s official Twitter account and YouTube channel, while also assisting various sports in creating and/or building their respective following on social media. Kanan also created and administered social media training to all of WMU’s student-athletes, a service he began providing in the fall of 2012.
Kanan began his career in college athletics at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, before earning a position at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. Prior to 2003, he worked in the private sector as a product communications and marketing manager in the telecom industry.
Kanan has been an active member of the College Sports Information Directors of America since 2003 and joined NAAD in 2014. He has presented at the annual NACDA/CoSIDA convention every year since 2013, speaking on the subject of social media strategy and monetizing your story.
Kanan earned has a journalism degree from Ohio University and earned his master’s in sports management from Western Michigan in June of 2009. He and his wife, Donna, have two daughters, Paige and Zoe.
