Dr. Dennis Francois was hired as director of athletics at Central Washington University in June of 2013.
During the first twelve years of Francois’ tenure, he has assembled a team that has taken Wildcat Athletics to unprecedented heights in the areas of academics, competition, capital improvements, fundraising, and community outreach. Guided by the athletic department’s core values, the vision of the department is to be a program with which people are proud to be associated. Francois’ leadership team, coaches, and staff, with the support of the University administration, have made tremendous strides in all facets of operations with the student-athlete experience being at the forefront.
With the creation of the Student-Athlete Academic Success Center in 2014, the Wildcats continue to excel academically. Central athletic teams recorded a GPA of over 3.0 for the eleventh consecutive year in 2025. The Wildcats also captured three GNAC Academic All-Sports Championship, after winning it for the first time in school history in 2021. In the fall of 2018, the Academic Success Center was renamed the Freedman-Remak Student-Athlete Academic Success Center through the generosity of Ben & Nancy Remak.
In competition, the Wildcats continue to perform at the national level under Francois’ leadership, with 27 teams earning NCAA Championship berths, and 14 teams have been crowned GNAC Conference Champions. Moreover, 132 student-athletes have achieved All-America honors including 3 individual National Champions, as well as 562 All-Conference selections during his tenure.
The CWU Department of Athletics has also experienced unprecedented fundraising results since Francois’ arrival. With a 475% increase in the number of donors since 2013, Wildcat Athletics eclipsed the 1,000-donor mark for the first time in 2025. Total annual fund dollars have increased over 500% since 2013. Francois and his team have also seen marked increases in community support with corporate sponsorships increasing nearly 400% since 2014.
Major giving has also increased with over $6M of private funding committed to capital improvements since 2015 including the completion of phase one of the Wildcat Commons project in the fall of 2018. The $13M project included a $4.5M renovation of Tomlinson Stadium, including the installation of an artificial turf field (FieldTurf), Musco LED lighting, new entry gates, restroom and ticketing improvements, and the creation of the Alumni Plaza and the Jean and Joe Adams Wildcat Plaza flanking the endzones. With the playing surface increasing to 125,000 square feet, Tomlinson Stadium is the main practice and competition venue for Wildcat Football and the premier venue for soccer in the GNAC and home to the Wildcat Women’s Soccer program.
Phase one also included the $8M construction of the Recreation Sports Complex, a collaborative effort with CWU’s Student Recreation and other auxiliary departments on campus. The Complex includes a new 400-meter track, the Dick & Marlys Bedlington Throws Venue, and an all-purpose turf field for student recreation, intramurals, and club sports. The Recreation Sports Complex is the home of the Wildcat Track & Field program.
In the fall of 2023, CWU unveiled the $62M Nicholson Pavilion renovation. The makeover included a new 6,000 sq/ft, state-of-the-art varsity weight room; arena upgrades, including additional chair back seating, Daktronics LED video and ribbon boards, additional concessions and restrooms, and new LED lighting; an expanded sports medicine clinic; new office suites for women’s and men’s basketball, volleyball, and football; and an expanded indoor fieldhouse, which includes a 6-lane 60M Mondo track straightaway for the Wildcat Track & Field program, 25,500 sq/ft of FieldTurf for the Wildcat outdoor field sports, and drop-down batting cages for the Wildcat Softball and Baseball programs.
Also in the fall of 2023, CWU athletics named the field at Tomlinson Stadium in honor of Wildcat alum and football hall of famer Steve Hertling and installed a Daktronics LED videoboard. Athletics has also made improvements of over $500,000 to the Gary and Bobbi Frederick Softball Field and the Wildcat Baseball Complex during Francois’ tenure.
Wildcat Athletics has placed emphasis giving back to the Ellensburg and surrounding communities as well. Student-athletes average over 3,000 hours of community service every year, participating in service activities to advance such causes as the Sparrow Club, Habitat for Humanity, Be the Match, Yakima River Clean Up, and free youth clinics just to name a few.
Francois came to Ellensburg after serving as the associate athletic director for external affairs at Drake University (NCAA Div. I – FCS) in Des Moines, Iowa. At Drake, Francois supervised all marketing, ticketing, licensing, booster club, and athletic communications operations, and managed the University’s relationship with its multi-media rights partner, IMG. Francois also assisted in the annual planning and facilitation of the historic Drake Relays, as well as the 2009 USA Track & Field Championships, and the 2011 & 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships during his time at Drake.
Francois was Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports at Southern Oregon University (NAIA) in Ashland, Ore., from 2005 to 2008. During his tenure, scholarship support increased by 80 percent, while the athletic department realized a 20-fold increase in external revenue through an expansive corporate partnership plan and annual fundraising events.
Prior to SOU, Francois was the interim director of athletics at New Mexico Highlands University (NCAA Div. II) from 2002-03, where he was an assistant professor from 2001-2005.
Francois was a university professor of sport administration for eight years. His collegiate coaching experience includes stints as an assistant wrestling coach at Loras College and at Colorado Northwestern Community College.
Francois chaired of the NCAA Division II Football Committee for two years (2023-2025) and co-chair of NCAA Division II Super Region 4 Football RAC from 2021-2025. Other national and regional committee service includes the National Association of Collegiate Director of Athletics (NACDA) Executive Committee, the Division 2 Athletic Directors Association Board of Directors, NCAA Division II West Region Men’s Basketball RAC, and was a member of the Northwest Intercollegiate Football Officials Association (NIFOA) Board of Directors.
An Iowa native, Francois earned his Ph.D. in sports administration from The University of New Mexico, his master's degree in administration of athletics from Loras College (Dubuque, IA), and his bachelor's degree in communications management from Missouri State University (NCAA Div. I) where he competed in wrestling.
