David Johnson begins in his 26th year at UW-La Crosse in 2025-26, including his 13th as Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations. Prior to being named Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, he served as Sports Information Director for 13 years.
A native of La Crosse, Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in mass communications from UWL in 1992. He graduated from La Crosse Central High School in 1988.
In his role, Johnson is responsible for every aspect of the athletic program's media relations strategy. He handles all media requests and hosts media members at UWL's home events. Johnson produces all of the athletic program's publications, including media guides and game programs. He maintains team statistics and records and is responsible for forwarding relevant information to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), and other governing organizations.
Through his efforts, UWL student-athletes are frequent finalists for, or recipients of, national awards, including, most recently, the NCAA Inspiration Award, the NCAA Top VIII Award and the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Johnson has coordinated media coverage of several high-profile national championship events while at UWL, including the 2018 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. UWL also hosted the 2013 national outdoor track & field championships. He has served as the media coordinator for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2024 as well as the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Division III Baseball Midwest Regional and 2005 and 2015 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships. Johnson has also served as the media host for numerous games in the NCAA III football playoffs, matches for the NCAA III soccer and volleyball tournament and for several WIAC Championship events.
Under Johnson's leadership, the athletic program has gained an increased media presence. He manages the athletic program's website,
uwlathletics.com, which receives more than 1,000 daily visitors, and recently spearheaded the website's successful redesign. In addition, Johnson implemented a system that allows for live video streaming of almost every home athletic contest. He is a frequent guest promoting UWL Athletics on local radio broadcasts.
Johnson is a member of UWL's Wall of Fame Committee, which is responsible for selecting past coaches, student-athletes, and staff members to receive the athletic program's most distinguished honor. He was a longstanding member of the Board of Directors for the L-Club, the fundraising arm of UWL Athletics, where he served on planning committees for large fundraising events such as the Roundball Rumble and the Eagle Eye Open Golf Outing. Johnson served on the UWL Alumni Association Board of Directors for nine years.
He served on the UWL Salary & Personnel Committee and on the UWL Non-Instructional Academic Staff Council Title Review Committee. Johnson has also been a member of
The Racquet Advisory Board, UWL's campus newspaper. A member of several UWL Search & Screen Committees, Johnson serves as chairman of the WIAC Sports Information Directors Committee.
He has also taught courses UWL's Sports Management Program.
Johnson is the Past President of The Parenting Place of La Crosse Board of Directors and has served as the Chairman/Secretary for the New Life Resource Center in La Crosse. Johnson is also active in his church.
Prior to coming back to UWL, Johnson served as the sports information director at Millikin University (Ill.) for four years. He has also worked in the sports information offices at Minnesota State University, Mankato; The College of William & Mary (Va.) and Northern Iowa University.
He is an active member of the College Sports Communicators (CSC) and serves on the Job Seekers Committee. He earned his 25th Year Award from CoSIDA in 2021-22. He was inducted into the UWL Wall of Fame in 2022 and earned the UWL Student Supervisor of the Year in 2025.
Johnson and his wife, Tina, have four children, Meghan, Hannah, Michael and Henry.
