Kevin Warren

Kevin Warren was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1963.[5] He became interested in sports at an early age, which he attributes to members of his family.[5] His father, the late Dr. Morrison Warren, Sr., played professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948,[6] and went on to be named President of the 1982 Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, the first African-American to serve in this position for a major college bowl game.[7] In 2013 Arizona State University (ASU) named Dr. Warren as one of the Top 50 ASU football players of all time.[8] His eldest brother, Morrison Warren, Jr., played football at Stanford in the early 1960s, and was one of the first African-American scholarship student-athletes at Stanford.[2]

As a young boy, Kevin was struck by a car and forced into traction and a body cast for many months. Doctors informed Warren that there was a chance he might not walk again, and therefore it was highly unlikely that he would ever fulfill any dreams he had of playing sports.[9] A doctor told Kevin that aquatic rehabilitation exercises may be his only hope at recovery. Since there was not an easily accessible pool in Kevin's neighborhood, Kevin used the money from the insurance settlement he received following the car accident to construct a pool in his backyard. Aided by his dedication to swimming, Warren recovered and went on to be recruited to play college basketball.

Warren spent his freshman year of college at the University of Pennsylvania. The following year, he returned to Arizona to enroll at Grand Canyon University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration in 1986.[10][11][12][13]

Following his graduation from GCU, Kevin Warren attended Arizona State University where he earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1988. He subsequently attended the University of Notre Dame Law School where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1990.[13] In November of 2019, Warren was inducted into the 42nd annual W.P. Carey School of Business Alumni Hall of Fame at Arizona State University.[14]

Warren began his college basketball playing days at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Quakers’ 1981-82 Ivy League Championship team before playing for two years at GCU. At GCU, Warren scored 1,118 points and averaged 20.0 points per game, the fourth-best career scoring average in the school's history. In Warren's senior season of 1985-86, he averaged 23.3 points per game, which also ranks as the fourth-best season average in GCU basketball history. On November 17, 1984, Warren posted a 42-point performance against Concordia College. That performance is the fourth-highest single game scoring total in school history.[13]

Warren earned GTE/CoSida Second Team Academic All-America honors as a senior, and added NAIA Academic All-America & NAIA District 7 Basketball Team honors as both a junior and senior. He posted a cumulative 3.49 GPA while at GCU.[15][16] In March, 2012, Warren was honored as the 16th individual, and the 5th member from the University's basketball team, to be inducted into the Grand Canyon University Athletics Hall of Fame.[12][13]

Warren is licensed to practice law with the State Bar of Kansas, Michigan,[17]and the District of Columbia.[2][18][19]

Warren has won the Fritz Pollard Alliance Salute to Excellence Award following 4 different NFL seasons.[52][53][54] The Twin Cities Business Journal recognized Warren as a Minority Business Leader in 2006 and honored him with the Corporate Counsel Award for Private Company-Large in 2015.[55] In 2017, on the eve of Super Bowl LI, Warren was presented with the inaugural Texas Southern University Pioneer Award.[56] In 2019, Warren received GENYOUth's Vanguard award presented by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and GENYOUth Founder Alexis Glick.[57] Warren also received the Trailblazer Award at the Minnesota Sports Awards for his work with the Minnesota Vikings and his upcoming role as Big Ten commissioner.[58] In December of 2019, Warren was featured on the cover of Sports Business Journal alongside Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Adam Silver where he received the honor of "Best Hire" of the year.[59][60]

His professional associations include: serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Grand Canyon Education, Inc.[61] and the Board of Trustees of Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota.[62] He is also member of the Notre Dame Law School Advisory Council.[63] In March 2016, Warren was appointed by University of Minnesota President Eric W. Kaler to serve as a member of the selection committee for the role of Athletic Director.[64] His civic roles include being on the General Board of the YMCA of the Twin Cities;[65] the Board of Directors for the Page Education Foundation;[66] the University of Minnesota's Medical Foundation Board of Directors, and U of M's Medicine and Health Board of Overseers.[67][68] Warren is a life member of the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors.[63] In addition, Warren is a member of the 2016-2017 Board of Trustees for the Minneapolis Institute of Art.[69] Warren previously served as a board member on the board of directors of Securian Financial Group.[70]

In 2014, Warren and his wife Greta created Carolyn's Comforts, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, donating $1 million to honor the legacy of his sister Carolyn Elaine Warren-Knox who passed away of brain cancer in October 2014. Since the inception of Carolyn's Comforts, over 150 financial grants have been made to families in need.[71]

Warren and his wife Greta have also "adopted" Lucy Craft Laney Community School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[72] For each of the past 5 years, the Warrens have donated thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies to the student body.[73] Among the resources they have contributed are school supplies, school uniforms, and athletic uniforms.[74]

Kevin Warren and his wife Greta were married in 1992.[75] Greta holds a bachelor's degree from Kansas State University. Together, the couple have a daughter, Peri, and a son, Powers. The family resides in the greater Chicago area.[76]