Nihill '00 of the NFL's Tennessee Titans to Speak at Commencement

May 1, 2023
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Burke Nihill, president and CEO of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans and a Class of 2000 Illinois Wesleyan alum, will deliver the University's Commencement address on Sunday, May 7.

The graduation ceremony for the class of 2023 will begin at 1 p.m. Due to inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Activity Arena at the Shirk Center. The ceremony will also be live streamed at www.iwu.edu/live. Nihill’s address is titled "Writing the Rest of Your Story."

After studying business administration at Illinois Wesleyan, Nihill earned his law degree with honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He began a career in corporate law first at OfficeMax and then at VMWare, a Silicon Valley software company, where he took a leadership role managing a team of 10 lawyers.

Nihill has worked with the Tennessee Titans since 2016 when he joined as a member of the team’s general counsel, managing vendor contracts and employment issues. He was promoted to vice president and then senior vice president, taking on responsibilities for human relations, stadium operations and spearheading the successful bid for the team to host the 2019 NFL Draft. He was named president and CEO of the Titans in May 2020.

Under his leadership, the team has seen several changes including a new mission statement “Win, Serve, Entertain” and a remodel and expansion to the team headquarters — bringing nearly all employees together under one roof for the first time. Nihill is also leading conversations with metro Nashville government and the state of Tennessee about a re-imagined stadium along the city’s east bank. 

Nihill lives in the Nashville area with his wife Holly (Munch) Nihill '00 who also majored in business administration at Illinois Wesleyan, and their three children.