The NCAA has elected Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to succeed Mark Emmert as president-elect.
Baker, who has been governor since January 2015, is a Republican who will finish his second term in January and will assume his new office on March 1. Baker has no collegiate administrative experience, although he served as a power forward on his basketball team at Harvard University in the 1977-78 season. Although he has spent most of his career in the Massachusetts government, he has been in healthcare administration for 10 years. Baker, 66, holds degrees from both Harvard and Northwestern Universities.
In April, Emmert announced he was stepping down. He has led his NCAA since his November 2010, and in April 2021 his contract was extended to his 2025. Emmert will remain in the advisory role until his June.
Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor University and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Governor Charlie Baker to the NCAA and are eager for him to begin his work with our organization. “Governor Baker has demonstrated an amazing ability to tackle complex challenges in innovative and effective ways, bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus.As a former student-athlete and former college gymnast, As the husband of a player and father of two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to improving our student-athletes and their college experience. , is invaluable as we work with policy makers to build a sustainable model for the future of collegiate athletics.
Livingston led the presidential race alongside six others, including former Duke basketball player and now co-owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Grant Hill.
Baker’s background in politics and policy fueled his candidacy as the NCAA has faced some high-profile legal challenges in recent years. It began to allow profits to be made from likeness, but despite requests from sports directors and commissioners of major conventions, there is no federal policy, and the rules vary from state to state. In a release announcing Baker’s hiring, the NCAA noted that an “untenable patchwork of individual state laws” limits its authority.
“The NCAA faces complex and significant challenges, but the incredible opportunities collegiate athletics offers so many students are more than worth the challenge, so I am excited to get to work. “And for the fans who faithfully fill stadiums, stands, and gyms from coast to coast, I know that the competition we all love to watch will be there for generations to come.” NCAA members in modernizing collegiate sports for today’s world while preserving the core values of collegiate sports.”
Baker took over the transitional NCAA, which ratified a new constitution in January, giving each department more autonomy. The NCAA noted that Baker’s history of “successfully building bipartisan solutions to complex problems” stood out for the Search Commission.
