Julio Freire is in his third year with Arizona Athletics, his first as the Associate Athletics Director for Development. His current responsibilities primarily consist of overseeing the development office as well as identifying, screening and securing major gifts for the Wildcat Club.

Prior to Arizona, Freire served as the Associate Director of Athletics at Tennessee Tech University where he played a key role in the department's strategic planning and fundraising efforts. Before that, he served as Assistant Athletics Director for Facilities and Operations from 2000 to 2003 at Ohio University. He was promoted to Associate Athletic Director for Operations in 2003.

A native of Tucson, Freire earned his bachelor's degree in education in 1990 from Arizona State University, where he was a member of the Arizona State cross country and track and field teams. He earned a master's of counseling degree in 1997 and an administrative certification in 1998 from the University of Phoenix. Before entering college athletics, he was a counselor, teacher, coach, and assistant principal in charge of athletics at the high school levels. He then became the principal of Fees Middle School. Julio and his wife, Cherie, have two children - Christopher, seven, and Gabriella, five.