David Matlin, who guided the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Athletics Department through championship seasons, major facility upgrades and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking his talents to one of the biggest stages in sports: the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Matlin has been hired by the LA28 organizing committee as director of venue development, joining the venue infrastructure team responsible for delivering temporary facilities at competition and non-competition venues. The group is tasked with ensuring that all venues meet the highest standards of functionality, sustainability and accessibility.
“My years at the University of Hawaiʻi were the honor of a lifetime, working alongside amazing student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans who made every day meaningful,” Matlin said. “I’ll always carry those experiences with me as I take on this new chapter with LA28. To now have the chance to help shape the Olympic and Paralympic Games is both humbling and inspiring.”
The 2028 Olympic Games will mark the first time in more than 30 years that the Summer Olympics return to the U.S., and the first time Los Angeles will host the Paralympics.
Matlin retired from UH Mānoa in June 2023 after more than eight years as athletics director. Under his leadership, the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine programs achieved record levels of success on and off the field.
UH’s men’s volleyball team captured back-to-back national championships, 30 teams competed in national postseason play and student-athletes achieved record-high GPAs and graduation rates. He also oversaw approximately $80 million in facility upgrades, directed the retrofit of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex following the closure of Aloha Stadium and hired 16 head coaches—the most by any AD in UH history.
Before his tenure at UH, Matlin spent more than two decades in sports management, including 13 years with ESPN and seven years directing the Hawaiʻi Bowl and Diamond Head Classic. A graduate of the University of Michigan and UH Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business, Matlin said at the time of his retirement that serving as AD had been “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
