Director of Athletics Gary Barta

Gary Barta UI Director of Athletics

Gary Barta enters his sixth year as director of athletics at the University of Iowa - and his 25th year in athletics administration - riding a wave of momentum. Cause for that energy is the fact the Hawkeyes enjoyed record-setting performances in the classroom and on the playing field, the completion of the second-largest construction project in the history of the intercollegiate athletics at the UI, and the breaking of ground on a new indoor practice facility for the Hawkeye football program.

With respect to the UI academic momentum, Barta expects the graduation rates for student-athletes made public this fall to be among the highest ever achieved at the UI. Those numbers are also expected to compare favorably with the UI's Big Ten Conference and national peers in the high profile sports of football, and men's and women's basketball.

With respect to the UI academic momentum, Barta expects the graduation rates for student-athletes made public this fall to be among the highest ever achieved at the UI. Those numbers are also expected to compare favorably with the UI's Big Ten Conference and national peers in the high profile sports of football, and men's and women's basketball. In May, the NCAA confirmed that all 24 of Iowa's teams exceeded the Academic Progress Rate (APR) benchmark for the third straight year and honored a school-record four UI teams - men's cross country, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis - that ranked in the top 10 percent of their sport, based on their most-recent multi-year APR.

In May, the NCAA confirmed that all 24 of Iowa's teams exceeded the Academic Progress Rate (APR) benchmark for the third straight year and honored a school-record four UI teams - men's cross country, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis - that ranked in the top 10 percent of their sport, based on their most-recent multi-year APR.

Competitively, the UI set a school record with 510 points scored in the 2011 Learfield Directors' Cup. This success was driven in great measure by another successful season for the UI football team - which won a record third straight bowl game, 27-24, over Missouri in the Insight Bowl; a third-place finish at the national championship by Iowa's wrestling program; a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA postseason by the women's basketball; strong performances by the UI's men's and women's gymnastics, and men's and women's track and field teams; and a school-record 10th place finish at the national championship by the UI men's golf team.

The highlight of the UI's year in Big Ten Conference competition was the first league title in men's track and field in 44 years. Larry Wieczorek's squad climbed to the top of the podium by dominating the final day of competition on the UI's Cretzmeyer Track. An All-American distance runner as a student-athlete at the UI, Wieczorek was named the Big Ten Track and Field Coach of the Year in recognition of his team's performance at the Big Ten meet and for qualifying no fewer than 33 male and female student-athletes for postseason competition.

In addition to the competitive success the Hawkeyes recorded in 2010-11, the UI also experienced tremendous success at the turnstiles. Iowa entered the 2010 home football season with all seven home games sold out. The UI will do the same in 2011 and boasts waiting lists for not only season tickets to the home games of Kirk Ferentz's squad, but also the premium seating options available inside the Paul W. Brechler Press Box at Kinnick Stadium.

Attendance at home games of first-year men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery soared 23 percent - the fifth-highest increase by percentage in the country and the largest by a team that did not advance to postseason play. Attendance at women's basketball games increased by almost 60 percent. Iowa ended the year ranked 13th - the program's highest finish in more than a decade.

As always, success at the gate provides Barta the financial resources to meet the mandate of Iowa's institutional leadership: Operate the intercollegiate athletics program with integrity, with a commitment to academic excellence, and without any support from tax dollars, e.g. be "self-sustaining."

Inherent in Barta's charge is to provide the more than 650 student-athletes who compete in the 24 intercollegiate athletics programs at the UI the best opportunity for success, including training and competition facilities that compare favorably or exceed those offered by peer institutions. The 2010-11 season marked the first for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams in the UI's $69 million Campus Wellness and Recreation Center.

In late summer 2011, the UI will complete a $47 million revitalization of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That project includes the construction of a practice facility for men's and women's basketball and volleyball, a 10,000-square-foot strength training and cardiovascular center, and an expansion to the Dan Gable Wrestling Complex, in addition to new locker room and support facilities for men's and women's basketball, wrestling and volleyball programs, and office space for the majority of Iowa administrative and coaching staffs.

The Carver project includes the installation of a statue of Gable at the facility's main entrance. That project will be completed in time for thousands of fans of the sport of wrestling to enjoy when the UI stages the 2012 United States Wrestling Olympic Trials in April 2012 - an event that represents not only the UI's commitment to its nationally respected wrestling program, but Barta's desire to strike partnerships when success would be mutually beneficial.

In addition to the competitive success the Hawkeyes recorded in 2010-11, the UI also experienced tremendous success at the turnstiles. Iowa entered the 2010 home football season with all seven home games sold out. The UI will do the same in 2011 and boasts waiting lists for not only season tickets to the home games of Kirk Ferentz's squad, but also the premium seating options available inside the Paul W. Brechler Press Box at Kinnick Stadium. Attendance at home games of first-year men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery soared 23 percent - the fifth-highest increase by percentage in the country and the largest by a team that did not advance to postseason play. Attendance at women's basketball games increased by almost 60 percent. Iowa ended the year ranked 13th - the program's highest finish in more than a decade.

The UI Athletics Department will break ground on Phase I of a two-phase project for the UI football program in the fall of 2011. Phase I includes the construction of a new indoor practice facility; Phase II includes construction of all football operations areas including locker rooms, team meeting rooms, athletic medical training space, video operations, and coaches offices and meeting rooms. Funded entirely through private support, the project is an important next phase of the master facilities plan for Hawkeye football. It will be constructed adjacent to the Ron and Margaret Kenyon Outdoor Practice Facility and immediately west of Kinnick Stadium.

Barta has also received permission form the State of Iowa Board of Regents to construct a new practice facility for the men's and women's golf programs. The facility will be located on the southern edge of the UI's award-winning Finkbine Golf Course and will begin construction as soon as the funding required is secured from friends and fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes and the UI's golf programs.

Barta's involvement in the UI campus community extends beyond intercollegiate athletics. He is a member of the President's Cabinet comprised of vice presidents and other campus leaders that provide counsel to UI President Sally Mason. That group was instrumental in the UI's response to record-setting flooding that besieged the campus and the Iowa City and Coralville community in June 2008.

Barta also represents the UI and the Hawkeyes at the conference and national level. During his first four years at the UI, he has participated in the creation and implementation of the Big Ten Network, the expansion of the Big Ten Conference and realignment of athletics conferences nationally, and the Big Ten's postseason bowl game agreements that were successfully implemented in 2010.

Nationally, Barta remains active in the Division IA Athletics Directors Association, the National Association of College Directors of Athletics, and currently serves on the NCAA Football Committee Board of Directors.

Barta often suggests to his staff that "Hope is not a strategy," which is why he is currently overseeing a comprehensive review of the strategic plan for the UI Athletics Department and has worked with the UI's leadership on a long-term financial plan.

Another favorite saying of his is, "Vision without resources is irrelevant." Over the course of his career he has been directly involved in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in support of intercollegiate athletics. This has remained a primary focus during his tenure at Iowa, where private support for the Hawkeyes continues to flourish despite a challenging economy.

In recent years, the department has received a long list of commitments to assist in capital projects and scholarship support, including gifts of $5 million each from long-time friends of the UI, Dale and Marilyn Howard, Bruce Rastetter and Richard O. Jacobson.

Under Barta's leadership -¬ and thanks to a talented athletics development staff - the UI has seen year-over-year improvement in annual giving in spite of the difficult economic environment and has generated more than $20 million of philanthropic and corporate sponsorship support for the Carver-Hawkeye Arena project.

As the director of athletics at the University of Wyoming for three years, seven different UW coaches were named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. He also spearheaded a fund-raising effort that netted the Cowboy athletics program $11 million in private support and $11 million in matching state fund.

As the senior associate athletics director at the University of Washington, he directed the "Campaign for the Student-Athlete," was a participant in the design, construction and/or renovation of several UW athletics facilities, including Bank of America Arena and the Dempsey Indoor Practice Facility. In addition to almost doubling the amount of annual private support received by UW, Barta also managed the department's external relations division, a task that included corporate sponsorship and radio contracts.

His responsibilities at Washington expanded over time to include hiring of coaching and administrative staff and coordinating the schedule for the Huskies men's basketball program.

The roots of his development experience extend to his first two positions: director of athletics development and external relations at the University of Northern Iowa and director of development at his alma mater, North Dakota State University.

Barta earned a bachelor of science degree in mass communication and broadcast journalism from NDSU in 1987. He was an option quarterback for Bison football squads that won the Division II NCAA national championship in 1983, 1985 and 1986.

Barta, and his wife, Connie, have a son, Luke (13) and a daughter, Madison (11). He was born Sept. 4, 1963, in Minneapolis.

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