Wednesday, January 6, 2021
by Northwest Nazarene Athletic Communications

NAMPA, Idaho - Josh Burkholder has been named the next Director of Athletic Communications at Northwest Nazarene University. 

Burkholder, who started at NNU on January 4, will oversee all aspects of athletic communications for the Nighthawks' 15 varsity programs, including but not limited to statistics, writing, media relations, social media, photography, graphic design, video production and the website.

"We are thrilled to have Josh joining our NNU Athletics team," said Kelli Lindley, NNU's Director of Athletics. "Josh has proven himself to be an up-and-coming star in the world of Athletic Communications and I am excited to see how he leaves his mark at NNU. He clearly has the skillset and ambition to elevate our Sports Information Department, while also being a delightful person to work alongside."

Prior to NNU, Burkholder spent two and a half years as the Assistant Sports Information Director at Division II Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. At Tiffin, he was the contact for 11 of the program's 23 sports, including serving as the primary gameday statistician for football, basketball, volleyball, and baseball. He also managed all of the planning, production, and implementation of the department's social media, graphic design, and video efforts.

Tiffin's social media presence increased dramatically during Burkholder's tenure, with the total following across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook doubling and engagement quadrupling over his two and a half years. In particular, over that timeframe, the Twitter account following grew from 10th to third among the conference's 12 athletic departments.

Before Tiffin, Burkholder spent two years at Division III Messiah College (now Messiah University) in Mechanicsburg, Pa., first as the Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant for just over one and a half years before receiving a promotion to Interim Coordinator of Athletic Communications for the final four months of spring 2018. While at Messiah, he was the contact for seven of the 23 programs and assisted with all aspects of the Falcons' athletic communications.

Burkholder has also gained valuable experience hosting and covering championships and postseason play over the last four and a half years at Tiffin and Messiah. During that time, he helped host 18 conference championships and eight weekends of NCAA tournament play. Highlights of covering teams in postseason action include Tiffin's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in baseball after starting the season 2-17, Tiffin's first trip to the NCAA postseason for football in 2019, Tiffin earning three individual national titles at the outdoor track and field championships in 2019, Messiah's 2016 Field Hockey National Championship, Messiah's 2017 men's soccer national championship, and serving as the Host Media Coordinator when Messiah hosted the first and second Rounds of the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.

A five-year member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Burkholder has also received a pair of national recognitions for graphic design in the organization's Publications and Digital Design Contest, with top-five finishes in the College Division for a football touchdown motion graphic in 2020 and a track and field All-American graphic in 2019.

While at Messiah, Burkholder completed his Master's degree in higher education with a concentration in college athletics leadership. Prior to Messiah, he received his undergraduate degree in sport management, sports information and information technology from Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio, where he worked as a student assistant in the sports information department for three years.

A native of Warden, Wash., Burkholder now resides in Boise with his wife, Meg.