Taking His Shot

Excitement fills the arena whenever the Carolina Hurricanes hit the ice. But there’s more dynamic action taking place behind the scenes, where communication alumnus Doug Warf, president of the Canes and Lenovo Center, is shaping the team’s future and its impact on the community.

Warf’s NC State education launched his journey from Hurricanes’ intern to its president. He is using his storytelling and strategic expertise to lead the Cane’s day-to-day business operations, sales and marketing, building maintenance, and anything in between. That includes supervising the renovation of the Lenovo Center and the creation of a mixed-use entertainment district that will breathe new life into the surrounding area.

The 2003 grad’s career success illustrates the enduring value of a degree from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) in today’s fast-paced, tech-oriented economy. His story demonstrates how a liberal arts foundation provides the versatile skills necessary for graduates to become innovative leaders who provide human-centered solutions to complex challenges and make a meaningful impact on society.

Warf took over the reins of the Hurricanes in July 2024. But his relationship with the team goes back to his college days, and his love of sports dates to an even earlier time.

Growing up in Winston-Salem, Warf was a sports fan and baseball player with dreams of a career as a professional athlete. By the time he arrived at NC State, Warf still loved sports, but he shelved his childhood career aspirations.

“I pivoted my thought process,” Warf says. “While at NC State I landed an internship with the Hurricanes, which had just started, and then I learned the business of sports, which I think is as fascinating as playing sports.”

Fast forward two-plus decades and Warf talks easily about how he marries sports and the humanities, and how his history with the team has paid dividends. That history includes a seven-year interruption when Warf left the Canes to serve as president of MDO Holdings, a Raleigh-based investment and management firm – only to return to the team as president.

Going from intern to president has allowed Warf to work in varied positions. That provides him insight into different jobs and helps him connect with a diverse employee base. What also helps is his engagement talents.

At CHASS you learn about research methods and philosophy, and to question your ideas, your existence, and your beliefs. That’s what our society needs more than ever right now.

In earlier roles with the Hurricanes, Warf was known to sit in the stands with fans to ask them about their entertainment experience. He still does that as president.

“Communication is at the base of everything you do; it’s vital,” Warf says when asked how his degree prepared him for his current position. “It helped me understand how you work with and influence others often comes from how you communicate with them. Also, I had a lot of people who helped me learn that I didn’t know everything, which was a great thing to learn in college.”

For Warf, lessons learned in college have become life lessons. They include, be direct, learn what you’re pitching, stay on track, know your talking points.

“That training got burned into my brain,” Warf says, adding that he continues to follow those principles, especially as discussions about the arena renovations and entertainment district get underway. The key, he adds, is communicating the plan and the change it will spark.

“Change sometimes can be concerning so the best way to overcome that is by open communication,” he explains. “The more we can talk about it and showcase what we’re doing, the more people will feel better about what’s going on. The vision we have is great … fantastic. Our job is making sure the community sees that vision and understands it. “

That’s not an easy task. But Warf says he relies on skills learned at CHASS to navigate industry and societal challenges and find solutions. Key among those skills is time management.

“At State, I took a full course load every semester. I had an internship pretty much every semester, starting my sophomore year,” he says. “And I tried to stay fairly active socially. So you learn balance. You learn time management through that and then you learn what your checkpoints are and how not to overextend yourself.  

“You also need people to talk to, and at State, I used my professors a lot, asking them: ‘Okay, I’m hitting a wall. How do I handle this?’”

To students thinking of pursuing a degree in the humanities and social sciences, Warf offers this perspective: CHASS challenges the way you think.

You come to college thinking that you’ll work in public relations or broadcast, he explains. But at CHASS you learn about research methods and philosophy, and to question your ideas, your existence, and your beliefs.

“That’s what our society needs more than ever right now,” he says.