Biography
Dr. Sparvero joined the faculty of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management in August 2009. She received her BA in Economics from Duke University and both her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Sport Management from the University of Texas at Austin. She received a graduate certificate in alternative dispute resolution from the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution at the University of Texas’s Law School.
Dr. Sparvero’s research emphasis is sport policy, which includes (1) the development and analysis of sport-specific policies, and (2) the ways in which communities can leverage sport assets to accomplish broader policy goals such as economic development, place marketing, and social welfare enhancement. Her current research is focused on how community stakeholders can be motivated and mobilized to implement strategic sport leverage. She is also interested in developing and refining the methods through which the value of a sport team to a community is measured. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Sparvero teaches Sport Governance and Policy, Introduction to Sport and Recreation Management, and Budgeting and Financial Systems.
Dr. Sparvero worked in development at the athletic departments at the University
of Texas and Duke University, as well as at the Texas State History Museum.
She has been a member of the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s event steering
committee since 2000, and has worked with various sport events and organizations,
including the Austin Motorola Marathon, AIDS Walk Austin, Move through Cancer,
and Liv in the Game.