Warren K. Zola

Executive Director, Boston College Chief Executives Club

Part-time Faculty, Business Analytics

Part-time Faculty, Business Law and Society

Department

Profile

Warren K. Zola serves as the Executive Director of the Boston College Chief Executives Club, a program of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Long recognized as one of the world’s premier business forums, the Boston College Chief Executives Club hosts prominent CEOs of global companies for an audience of business leaders. Previously, Zola served as Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs in the Carroll School of Management for 10 years.

As an attorney and thought leader in the business of sports and sports law Zola is frequently contacted by national media outlets for his insights and perspective. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Carroll School’s departments of Business Analytics and Business Law & Society, where he teaches Sports Law and The Business of Sports, and he has written scholarly articles for legal textbooks, books, law reviews, and newspapers.

Zola earned a B.A. with Honors from Hobart & William Smith Colleges, a J.D. from Tulane University, and an M.B.A. from Boston College. He has been an active member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1993. Zola serves on the Board of Directors of three non-profit organizations: Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Mass Mentoring Partnership, and You Can Play.

Selected Publications

  • "Sport Is for Everyone: A Legal Roadmap for Transgender Participation in Sport," co-written by Erin Buzuvis and Sarah Litwin, Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, (2021).
  • Contributed two chapters to The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law, edited by Michael McCann for Oxford University Press​ (2017)​.​ ​“T​he Evolution of the Power of the Commissioner in Professional Sports, co-written by Jimmy Golen and “College Athletics: The Growing Tension between Amateurism & Commercialism.
  • “Transitioning to the NBA: Advocating on Behalf of Student-Athletes for NCAA Rule Changes, Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Volume 3, Number 1 (2012).
  • “Going Pro in Sports: Improving Guidance for Student-Athletes in a Complicated Legal and Regulatory Framework, 28 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 553 (2011).
  • Contributed a chapter titled “Understanding the College-to-NFL Transition: The (Cautionary) Tale of Mike Williams  in Sports for Dorks: College Football (2011).