PETE CARLON
The fifth Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UT Arlington since 1953, Pete Carlon is in his 14th year as the department's director after serving twice in an interim role. Carlon has been with the university 29 years (since 1981), when he came to UT Arlington from Stephen F. Austin to become the head athletics trainer. He served as assistant or associate athletics director from 1984 until he was named director of athletics in May of 1996. During Carlon's first tenure as interim athletics director in 1991-92, UT Arlington won five team conference titles and was ranked by the Women's Sports Foundation as the second best Division I program in the nation in terms of commitment to gender equity. During the 1996-97 year, in Carlon's first year as the permanent athletics director, the Mavericks claimed both the men's and women's Southland Conference All-Sports trophies, a first in the history of the UT Arlington athletics program. In 1998-99, UT Arlington again claimed both the men's and women's All-Sports Championship and won the SLC Commissioner's Cup in the award's second year of existence. The Commissioner's Cup recognizes the conference's best overall athletics program. In all, UT Arlington has won three Commissioner's Cups and has finished among the top three schools in the race for the Cup each year since programs began competing for the award. During Carlon's tenure, the UT Arlington women's teams have captured five SLC All-Sports trophies and the men's teams have won six all-sports awards. In all, the Mavericks have won 48 team conference championships during Carlon's tenure as athletics director. In 1997-98, Carlon teamed with then-University President Dr. Robert Witt to join forces with student and faculty leaders to spearhead the campaign for a referendum on a Student Intercollegiate Athletics Fee. This student athletics fee won overwhelming support from the student body and was enacted by the state legislature and then Gov. George W. Bush in 1999. The fee was the first of its kind in the state of Texas, and serves as a model for other institutions. Carlon has placed a special emphasis on maintaining an environment of academic excellence for UT Arlington student-athletes. Numerous academic support services and programs have been implemented to assist each student-athlete in their academic endeavors. UT Arlington athletics is involved with the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program, which provides Maverick student-athletes opportunities for life enriching leadership experiences, community service and life skills training. During his 12-year tenure as head athletics trainer, Carlon served as president of the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association in 1987-88, was a member of the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association (SWATA) Executive Board, and served two terms on the national board of directors for the National Athletic Trainers Association. Carlon received one of the highest honors presented by the organization when he was named recipient of the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 1997. In 1989, Carlon was presented the Frank Medina Award for service to athletics training and mankind, and has twice (1988 and 1996) earned the Eddie Wojecki Award for service to SWATA. He was inducted into the SWATA Hall of Fame in 1999 and the NATA Hall of Fame in 2005 - the organization's highest honor. Carlon served a two-year term as president of the Southland Conference and chair of its executive committee. He previously served on the executive committee in two-year stints as vice president/chair of the compliance committee and secretary/treasurer and chair of the finance committee. Carlon has also served on several committees, including Southland Conference Honors and Awards, Compliance, Strategic Planning, Championships, Officiating and Marketing and Television. Nationally, Carlon has been recently appointed for a four-year term on the Division I Academics Cabinet, after spending the last year as a member of the NCAA Division I Academics, Eligibility and Compliance Cabinet, the Transfer Issues Ad Hoc Subcommittee and chairing the Division I Financial Aid Subcommittee. Carlon completed a four-year term (1998-2002) on the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports as well as the Subcommittee for Drug Education and Testing. He also is an active participant in the NCAA Athletics Certification process, having served on NCAA Peer Review Teams evaluating 10 other Division I institutions. He served as the president of the I-AAA Athletic Directors Association in 2005-06. Carlon spearheaded a facilities upgrade with the first phase of Clay Gould Ballpark renovation completed. Other facilities that have receive enhancement since 2002 include: the UT Arlington Tennis Center, Allan Saxe Softball Field and the track surface at Maverick Stadium. Carlon earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1975 and his master's degree from Northwest Missouri State University in 1976. He began his professional career at Arlington James Bowie High School in 1976 as a health teacher and athletics trainer, and was the school's Teacher of the Year in 1978. Carlon and his wife, Beth, who is an elementary school administrator in Irving ISD, are both natives of Gowrie, Iowa.
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