Utica native Mike Slive graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School in 1965 and an LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1966.

Mike began his athletic involvement as assistant director of athletics at Dartmouth College (1968-69), assistant Executive Director of the Pacific-10 Conference (1979-81), and Director of Athletics at Cornell University (1981-83). He went on to serve as commissioner of the Great Midwest Conference from its formation in 1991 until 1995, playing a pivotal role in the Great Midwest Conference becoming one of the most successful and exciting conferences in the nation in the 1990s.

Prior to joining the SEC, Slive was the commissioner of Conference USA being named the first-ever commissioner of the newly-formed league on April 24, 1995. Under his direction, Conference USA quickly emerged as one of the nation's top conferences.

After being named the seventh commissioner of the Southeastern Conference on July 2, 2002, Slive was instrumental in the development of the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit, a national forum held in February 2003, which brought together athletic, community and civic leaders as well as specialists to talk about sportsmanship and how to prevent inappropriate fan behavior. He also has developed an initiative to ensure gender and ethnic diversity in the SEC.

Slive served as chair of the first NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee and is presently on the National Letter of Intent Steering Committee. He served as president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) from 2001-03, was also on the NCAA Management Council from 1997-2004 and is the former chair of the Board of Directors of NCAA Football USA. He is on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Marquette Sports Law Institute. Additionally, Slive also has served on the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee since 2004, chairing it in 2008 and 2009.

Slive served a two-year stint as Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series from 2006-2008.

Slive has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Sports Lawyers Association from 1997-2001 and was chair of the Division I-A Commissioners from 1999-2001. He also was a member of the NCAA Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues in 1998-99. He was named to the Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group during the summer of 2007.

Slive and his wife, Elizabeth, are the parents of a daughter, Anna, who was the executive director of the Atlanta Local Organizing Committee of the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.