A leading voice and an influential member of the Minnesota Athletic Trainers' Association (MATA), Brent Millikin has made notable and often groundbreaking contributions at the local, state, district, and national levels for several decades. Millikin received degrees from the University of Iowa and Southwest Texas State and then began his career at Southwest Texas State before the profession guided him to the University of Minnesota in 1989. During his time there, he worked as an assistant athletic trainer with wrestling, swimming and diving, track and field, tennis, golf, gymnastics, baseball and football and helped coordinate medical coverage for Big Ten and National Championships.  In 2002, Millikin started working with an orthopedic group in the Twin Cities and is now the Manager of Sports Medicine, Podiatry and Orthopedic Services for Allina Health Orthopedics. His work in the orthopedic practice led to one of the first usages of athletic trainers in the clinical setting.

Millikin served as MATA Vice President, President-elect, and President. During his time as President he would be at the forefront of several MATA initiatives including a new youth sports-based concussion legislation, passed by the Minnesota legislature in 2011. This led Millikin to do several media interviews in support of the legislation, putting more eyes on the impact the MATA has on Minnesota sports in providing safe and quality health care. Millikin was a front-facing individual for the MATA leading to numerous speaking engagements and presentations in Minnesota and the MATA, along with the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association (GLATA) and National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).

Millikin was a long-time member, including the chair for one year, of the MATA Legislative Committee to Governmental Affairs. He has been a member of the MATA Honors and Awards Committee since 2005. Millikin has been a key member on the GLATA and NATA COPA Committees, serving as chair for the NATA Worth to Value Workgroup, and the NATA Athletic Trainer Physician Extender Executive Task Force.

A recipient of the MATA Larry “Stosh” Neumann Award, the MATA Service Award and the MATA Outstanding Athletic Trainer Recognition Award, he has also received the NATA Athletic Trainer Service Award and the GLATA Dedicated Service Award.