Professor Aaron Hernandez, L’13, returns to Marquette Law School in a full-circle moment that brings him back to where his legal journey began. Now joining the faculty as associate professor of practice and director of the National Sports Law Institute, Hernandez reenters the Marquette community with a deep connection to its mission and a commitment to shaping the next generation of sports law leaders.
His legal career since law school has spanned college athletics, legal education, and the broader sports industry. His work has explored some of the most pressing and complex issues in sports law today, including college athletics, American football, Australian sports, and high-profile sexual assault scandals in sports. He has published in a number of law journals on legal issues in sports such as Roll the Reel: the Evolution of Racial Issues in Sports Law (2025) and The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961: A Comparative Analysis of its Effects on Competitive Balance in the NFL and NCAA Division I FBS Football (2013).
This fall, he will co-teach Amateur Sports Law alongside his former professor and longtime mentor, Professor Matt Mitten—marking a powerful and fitting new chapter in a career rooted at Marquette.
Professor Hernandez credits Marquette's nationally recognized Sports Law Program with shaping his career. "I knew I wanted to work in sports," he says. "A successful sports agent I met in college told me Marquette had the best sports law program in the country. He was right." More than a decade later, that reputation drew him back. "Having the opportunity to return to my alma mater, to lead the National Sports Law Institute made this opportunity too good to pass up." He is eager to build on the Institute's national reputation while creating new opportunities for students, alumni, and the broader sports industry.
Throughout his career—from the NCAA to NASCAR and most recently as executive director of the Allan "Bud" Selig Sports Law and Business Program at Arizona State University, Professor Hernandez has carried with him one piece of advice that has shaped his approach to leadership. Early in his career, a mentor reminded him that success in sports is built on reputation and relationships. "Treat people right and take care of your relationships," he says. "For a kid who grew up laser-focused on grades and performance, that advice really helped launch my career." It is a philosophy he now hopes to pass along to his students as they begin building careers of their own.
Working with students has become one of the most rewarding parts of Professor Hernandez's career. "They have given me so much purpose," he says. "They will be the centerpiece of what we plan to accomplish at the National Sports Law Institute." He believes there is no better place to study sports law than Marquette, where the Institute has helped the Law School remain as a national leader in the field. As he returns to campus, Professor Hernandez brings not only extensive experience from the sports industry but also an unwavering belief in the Law School's mission. "I believe in Marquette and what we stand for," he says. "Together, with our students, alumni, and friends, we can reach new heights."
Professor Hernandez earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and received Marquette Law School’s Charles W. Mentkowski Sports Law Alumnus of the Year Award in 2019.