Jim Phillips Position: Director of Athletics and Recreation

James J. Phillips became Northwestern's 21st director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation on April 14, 2008, bringing with him a track record of success at the Division I level and a commitment to the values Northwestern always has maintained in collegiate athletics.

"The opportunity to lead Northwestern's athletic and recreation programs is both exciting and humbling," Phillips said. "Northwestern is a world-class institution that does things right in terms of college athletics and what they should stand for."

One of 10 children from a middle-class family, Phillips, who grew up in the Portage Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, is the perfect fit to head up Northwestern's 19-sport program in the nation's No. 3 market.

His deep Windy City roots and family orientation are an integral part of his core philosophy of providing the student-athlete with a "world-class experience" that enables them to succeed academically, socially and athletically.

Phillips took little time to make a big impact on the Northwestern athletic department, hiring ultra-successful women's basketball coach Joe McKeown in June of 2008. McKeown came to Evanston after 19 years as the head coach at George Washington, where he took his team to the postseason 17 times. McKeown never had a losing season in 22 years as a head coach prior to arriving in Evanston, bringing a career record of 509-174 (.745) with him to NU. Phillips' second coaching hire was to name Tracey Fuchs the head of the field hockey program in January of 2009. Fuchs had arguably the most successful playing career in the history of USA Field Hockey and has been referred to as the "Michael Jordan of field hockey."

In his first full year, Phillips successfully negotiated a new four-year deal with WGN Radio, the long-time radio outlet of Northwestern football and men's basketball. Wildcat fans will be able to hear those two sports in addition to a weekly Inside Wildcat Athletics show on The Voice of Chicago through the 2012-13 season. "WGN is one of the nation's premier radio stations and is the No. 1 station in Chicagoland," said Phillips. "We are truly excited that the Voice of Chicago and Dave Eanet will remain the voice of the Wildcats for the next four years."

Also in June of 2009, Phillips inked head football coach Pat Fitzgerald to a new seven-year deal, that will keep him on the Wildcat sidelines through 2015. "To be certain, I am absolutely ecstatic that we have come to an agreement with Coach Pat Fitzgerald on a long-term contract extension," said Phillips. "This has been one of our top priorities the past few months. There is no doubt that Pat is the right individual to lead Northwestern's football program well into the future."

Phillips' first football and men's basketball seasons (2008-09) as a Wildcat were successful years for both programs. His introduction to Northwestern football was the Wildcats' 9-4 season in 2008 that concluded with a berth in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Third-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald's group became the fifth in NU history to win nine contests in a single year, finishing No. 23 in the last BCS ranking. The football team also earned a program-record 26 Academic All-Big Ten awards and earned a 3.0 or better team GPA during the spring quarter for the highest team GPA in school history. Phillips' first basketball experience was watching 10th-year head coach Bill Carmody lead a talented group to an NIT berth, NU's first postseason bid during Carmody's tenure. Also during the winter of 2009, Northwestern recorded its fourth-straight year with an individual national champion when Jake Herbert won the 184-pound wrestling title and the Hodge Trophy as the nation's top collegiate wrestler. He also was named the Big Ten's Jesse Owens Award recipient as the league's most outstanding male athlete.

In the spring of 2009, Northwestern won its fifth-straight NCAA title in women's lacrosse and its second since Phillips arrived in Evanston. Hannah Nielsen won the Tewaaraton Trophy for the second time, marking the fifth-straight year a Wildcat has earned the award. The Wildcats' women's tennis team was ranked No. 1 for much of the season and won the 2009 ITA Indoor national championship, a first for a northern school. Men's tennis made an amazing turnaround from the previous season to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and men's golf advanced to the NCAA National Championships for the sixth time under head coach Pat Goss. Overall in 2008-09, seven of NU's eight men's varsity programs were represented in postseason play, making the year arguably the tops for men's athletics in school history.

Academically and in the community, Wildcat student-athletes had a banner year in 2008-09. Northwestern had a school-record-tying 879 student-athlete quarters in which a 3.0 GPA was earned, and 17 varsity teams achieved a 3.0 or better team GPA with all 19 varsity squads recording a 2.9 or better team GPA for two academic quarters (fall and spring) for the first time in school history. The department's combined student-athlete GPA for the spring quarter was a school-record 3.21 average, bettering the previous mark of 3.14. Northwestern's APR and GSR scores rank in the top five and 10 in the nation, respectively. In the community, Wildcat student-athletes volunteered a school-record 5,346 hours while serving 66 organizations in Evanston and greater Chicagoland.

In June of 2009, Phillips was asked to serve on the NCAA Champions Forum panel. The Forum consisted of a group of football coaches and athletics directors making an effort to bring minority football coaches closer to the mindset of athletics directors who ultimately hire football coaches. He also is part of the NCAA Mentoring Program, the NACDA Executive Committee and is part of the 2016 Chicago Olympic Committee.

One of Phillips' first actions at Northwestern was to begin the implementation of a Department of Athletics and Recreation re-organization that was completed in January of 2009. NU's existing departments were broken into three key "silos:" internal, external and student-athlete welfare.

In the external silo, Northwestern's already stellar marketing and promotions staff continued to excel in 2008-09, winning a national NACMA award for the sixth time in the last seven years. Ticket sales for Big Ten football home games went up 17 percent, men's basketball sales improved 13 percent for weekend contests and overall attendance was up at all seven of NU's admission-charging sports. The new courtside seating at Welsh-Ryan Arena sold out for the men's basketball season.

NU signed corporate sponsorship deals with Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Harris Bank, re-branded its media rights holder to Northwestern Sports Properties (NSP), defeated the home team Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field in baseball and created a new Annual Report to showcase the department's achievements over the previous year.

Prior to arriving in Evanston, Phillips served as Northern Illinois' athletic director for four years beginning in 2004. During that time, the Huskies had unprecedented athletic success and consistent academic achievements. On July 1, 2006, Phillips was promoted to associate vice president, in addition to his director of athletics title, after already being recognized by his peers in the Mid-American Conference with his selection to serve as chairman of the MAC Athletic Director's Council. He also was a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball committee during his time in the MAC.

Phillips was extraordinarily successful in fund raising and marketing at Northern Illinois. He spearheaded the fund raising and construction of the $14-million Yordon Academic and Athletic Performance Center at NIU, the largest capital project in athletics history at NIU, and led several successful fund-raising campaigns for athletics. In addition, the Huskies opened an indoor practice facility for baseball, softball and men's and women's golf and began construction in the spring of 2008 on a new soccer/track and field complex.

During Phillips' tenure at NIU, he was instrumental in scheduling high-profile football games against Michigan and Ohio State that resulted in the first national television appearances for NIU. He also negotiated playing the University of Iowa in 2007 at Soldier Field in Chicago as a home game at NIU, a game that sold out in less than a week. In addition, Phillips negotiated a multiple-year agreement for the radio power WSCR-AM (The Score) to carry football, men's basketball and a weekly NIU Live radio show to discuss all Huskie athletic programs.

Phillips helped secure the 2007 NCAA Men's Golf Central Regional, which the Huskies hosted at the new home of NIU golf, Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. Phillips also assisted in securing a bid for preliminary men's soccer rounds for the 2016 Olympics at Huskie Stadium should Chicago be named the host city.

A 1990 graduate of the University of Illinois, Phillips started his career as a manager and student assistant in Illinois' athletic department. He earned a master's degree in education at Arizona State University while serving as a graduate student and as a restricted earnings basketball coach during a period in which the Sun Devils reached the postseason in five-straight years.

Phillips also holds a Ph.D. in educational administration from Tennessee, which he completed in the summer of 2007. Phillips served as an assistant athletics director with the Volunteers until 2000. He directed a $12.4 million annual athletics giving program, and was directly responsible for identifying, cultivating and soliciting all major gifts and donations for the Volunteer athletic program. He aided in originating the first-ever capital campaign for athletics at UT that raised over $50 million for endowments, facilities and programs. In addition, he had supervisory duties over athletic programs and a variety of other areas.

Phillips then moved to the University of Notre Dame in 2000, where he served as associate director of athletics and senior associate director of athletics for external affairs. During 2002-03, he helped launch the Rockne Heritage Fund, which became the first athletics annual fund that directly benefited student-athlete grant-in-aid scholarships. In addition, he managed the ticket office, various corporate sponsorships, athletic programs and a weekly Irish radio show.

At the same time, Phillips played an integral part in the funding of a new $24-million, 96,000-square foot athletics facility. At Notre Dame, Phillips directed all phases of the athletics community relations program and helped develop new institutional and departmental advancement programs.

Phillips and his wife, Laura, have five children: Luke, Madeline, Meredith, John and James.

The Phillips family (from left): Front: John, Meredith and Madeline. Back: Laura (holding James), Luke and Jim.