Forty-seven student-athletes honored for academic achievement

26 named Super Scholar-Athletes, 21 tabbed Scholar-Athletes

03/27/2013

Sun Belt expands by four members

Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Idaho and New Mexico State join league in 2014.

01/22/2013

Hall of Honor celebrates UTA's best

2013 inductees were Pete Carlon, Clay Gould, Mishael Berger, and the 1990 and 1992 baseball teams.

10/16/2012

Inside UTA Athletics presented by Mixed-Up Burgers

UT Arlington Director of Athletics Jim Baker makes another appearance on Inside UTA Athletics.

10/09/2012

Inside UTA Athletics presented by Mixed-Up Burgers

UT Arlington Director of Athletics Jim Baker is the guest on this week's Inside UTA Athletics.

Jim Baker joined the University of Texas at Arlington as director of intercollegiate athletics Feb. 1, 2012, the same day the university and department opened the $78 million, 7,000-seat College Park Center.

In just over a year, Baker has put his own stamp on the department, spearheading numerous program upgrades and leading the way in the areas of sales and staffing, which have led to unprecedented growth.

One of his first projects was to upgrade the department's baseball and softball facilities. He oversaw the development and construction of indoor hitting and practice facilities for each team, which opened with the start of the 2013 season.

The department has also seen record numbers in attendance and sales as UT Arlington is in its first full season in the College Park Center. Baker has also made it a priority to add staff to sports programs and administration to insure the growth of the department continues on an upward track.

In a busy first year on the job, he made his first head coaching hire naming former All-American Kristie Fox to lead the softball program and was instrumental in the university's move to the Sun Belt Conference, which will take place officially on July 1, 2013.

Since he took the reins, he oversaw the completion of a regular season championship for men's basketball and a conference tournament title for the baseball team in 2012. The men's cross country team then won the program's first-ever Western Athletic Conference title in the fall of 2012.

Baker previously served as associate athletic director for events, operations and sports programs at the University of Texas, where he helped direct significant growth in one of the nation's most recognized athletics programs.

In his 20 years with the Longhorn, Baker had wide-ranging responsibilities, from directing merchandising and concessions, to overseeing more than a dozen athletic facilities construction projects. He had chief responsibility for the Texas golf and baseball programs and directed all game-day activities for football.

Baker earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, and held positions with Gladieux Food Service at Ohio State University and the University of Florida before joining Texas in 1991.

Baker and his wife, Nancy, have two grown sons.