Jim Schmidt
	Position: Athletic Director

Regarded as an engineer of championship programs, an advocate for academic success and a dynamic leader, Jim Schmidt enters his 16th year as the Athletic Director at UIC. The longest-tenured AD in the Horizon League, Schmidt's tenure has produced the most comprehensive run of athletic and academic success in school history.

Named UIC's fourth Director of Athletics on January 24, 1997, Schmidt quickly put together a department that could get it done on a championship level, not only within the Horizon League, but on regional and national scenes as well.

Under Schmidt's direction, UIC has advanced to NCAA postseason competition on 47 occasions while amassing a total of 72 conference championships. In 15 years of NCAA Division I status prior to Schmidt's tenure as athletic director, UIC earned nine NCAA postseason berths and accumulated 11 conference titles.

UIC has won the James J. McCafferty Trophy, the award honoring the most successful all-around athletic program in the Horizon League each season, in 2000 and 2007 under Schmidt's watch.

In August 2010, Schmidt secured the official addition of women's golf as a varsity sport at UIC, further proving the department's commitment of providing opportunities for women's athletics. Schmidt and his administration are also in the process of hiring the school's first-ever women's soccer coach -- the addition of UIC's 20th varsity program will give the Flames 10 women's sports, including all nine program's sponsored by the Horizon League. Valparaiso and Youngstown State are the only two other schools in the League to sponsor all nine women's programs.

Schmidt has laid the foundation for a bevy of Flames programs that are consistently in the mix for regional and national success. The first-ever NCAA bids for men's basketball, men's soccer, women's tennis and baseball have occurred since Schmidt took office, setting the stage for championship and postseason pedigrees for those teams. The men's soccer program has been ranked as high as fourth nationally and advanced to the 2007 NCAA Elite Eight; the baseball team has won 10 of the last 13 League regular-season championships and advanced to NCAA Regional play four times since 2003; and the women's tennis team has established itself as a dynasty by winning an unprecedented 16-consecutive League titles and making 14-straight NCAA tournament appearances.

"At UIC, we are committed to excellence, both academically and athletically," Schmidt said. "We will create an atmosphere that will assist each student in attaining lifelong experiences that will help them be successful."

In keeping with that commitment, UIC has continued to enhance the academic performance of its student-athletes under Schmidt. For the third-straight term, UIC student-athletes compiled a 3.0 grade-point-average during the 2012 Spring Semester. In addition, NCAA graduation reports list UIC Athletics' graduation rates well above the national average.

Under Schmidt's direction in 1994, UIC Athletics instituted a Life Skills program designed to enhance the total student-athlete, with activities designed to improve personal, social and career development. Team builders, community service projects and leadership opportunities through the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) were also implemented.

Schmidt has also played a key role in the local and national exposure of UIC Athletics. He partnered with ESPN Radio 1000, one of the premier sports radio stations in America; to make WMVP-AM and ESPNChicago.com the exclusive radio broadcast homes of UIC men's basketball. He also helped expand radio coverage of UIC on WSCR, WGN, WBBM and other stations while increasing television exposure on the ESPN family of networks, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and other local and national outlets. In the past two men's basketball seasons, the Flames had a combined 19 regular season games televised, including an 11-game regional package on Comcast SportsNet.

With a strong desire to win conference titles and earn regular appearances in NCAA postseason action, Schmidt has brought numerous conference championships to the UIC campus. For the first time ever, the Flames hosted the League's men's basketball championship in 1999 and 2000. UIC has also hosted conference tournaments in softball, baseball, soccer, cross country, gymnastics, women's basketball, and swimming & diving, while the school also welcomed the NCAA Softball Regional Championships to its field in 1999 and the NCAA Softball Super Regional Championships in 2005. An NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament first-round match was also played at Flames Field for the first time in the fall of 2006, and again in 2008. In 2012, UIC is slated to host the Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championship, just nine months after hosting the League's baseball tournament at Les Miller Field, in which the fourth-seeded Flames advanced to the championship game.

UIC's administrative long-term plans are aggressive as well. In addition to major projects such as the first phase of the "Campaign for Athletics" that was implemented and the Flames Athletic Center fundraising campaign that was completed under Schmidt, UIC's overall strategic plan outlines detailed improvements for scholarship funding; renovations to facilities, including the UIC Pavilion, aquatics center; and improvements to indoor competition/practice facilities for baseball, softball, track, tennis and volleyball. Construction of the stadium portion of the baseball and softball complexes and renovations to the soccer field are also high on the capital program's list of improvements. Additionally, new team locker rooms for all 20 sports will be installed before 2015.

Many of those projects are already underway, or have been completed. Lights have been installed at the baseball, softball and soccer facilities, and turf was installed as the playing surface at Les Miller Field, the home of Flames baseball. Indoor practice areas for baseball, softball and women's golf have been added, while Flames Field, the home to UIC softball, and Les Miller Field are both operating with brand-new digital scoreboards.

While serving as associate athletic director, Schmidt helped develop a broad-based athletic program headed by strong men's and women's basketball programs and rapidly improving, nationally-competitive Olympic sports teams. He also saw UIC's student-athletes gain national recognition for top academic achievements while the teams and coaches earned regional and national exposure through conference championships and NCAA postseason competition.

Schmidt assisted during the many historical decisions that took place over the last several years, including changes in conference affiliation leading up to UIC's current membership in the Horizon League. Schmidt recently finished up a term as chair of the NCAA Division I Championship/Sports Management Committee. He had previously served as the chair of the television, finance and men's basketball committees. Schmidt has also served on the championships/facilities committee, equity committee and executive council.

Schmidt began his collegiate athletics career in the fall of 1980, serving one year as the pitching coach at Western Illinois University while earning his master's degree in sports administration. Arriving at UIC in 1982, Schmidt served as a pitching coach on the Flames' baseball staff before being named an assistant to the athletic director in charge of marketing/promotions and daily operations.

From 1983-86, Schmidt handled all sports information duties as an assistant athletic director and assumed the title of associate athletic director in 1987.

A 1981 graduate of sports management from WIU, Schmidt and his wife, Mary, reside in Naperville, Ill. They have two children, Bill and Eva.

UIC Flames Athletics News

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