The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Related Articles
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Jim Johnson was one of 28 recipients to be selected as the 2019-20 Under Armour Athletic Directors of the Year award.
The award is administered by the National Associate of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
This is the second time that Johnson has been named Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year by NACDA. He was chosen as one of the recipients of the Athletics Director of the Year award during the 2013 to 2014 academic year as well.
Johnson manages the athletics department at Pittsburg State. His duties include providing leadership and support for the university’s 12 varsity intercollegiate sports programs and over 50 employees in the athletic department including administrative staff and coaching staff.
Since he became the director of the athletics department, Johnson has helped along the renovations of the John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court and the Robert W. Plaster Center. Johnson also had a hand in the upgrades to the Gene Bicknell Sports Complex for the Pitt State varsity baseball and softball teams and the implementation of the Silverback Fund.
According to the Pitt State athletics department website, “Johnson also provides leadership in the development and implementation of departmental planning; provides oversight of compliance with NCAA and MIAA rules and work in conjunction with the MIAA office in support of conference activities and initiatives; develops and advances marketing, communications, sponsorship, and fundraising in support of PSU and its athletics program; develops and nurtures relationships with donors, local corporations and community entities in support of the athletics programs; and oversees/manages athletics facilities.”
According to Johnson, receiving awards such as this one shines a light on not just him but everyone in the athletics department at Pittsburg State.
“I am humbled to receive one of NACDA’s Athletic Director of the Year awards,” Johnson said in an email statement. “It’s nice to be recognized by your peers, but most importantly it reflects that we have a great team at Pittsburg State. This is certainly a shared honor.”
Before his time at Pittsburg State, Johnson was the MIAA Commissioner from 2007 until 2010 when he became the athletics director for PSU. Among other things, Johnson handled the administration of conference championships from 17 different sports in that position.
Prior to that Johnson was the athletics director at Texas A&M University- Commerce from 2005 up until 2007. He briefly served as an athletics consultant before becoming the associate athletics director for development in 2003 at the University of Central Missouri.
Before his time at Texas A&M University- Commerce, Johnson was employed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a membership services representative and later as Division II governance liaison. As a governance liaison, Johnson provided legislative and strategic support to all Division II Presidents Council and Division II Management Council.
Currently, Johnson is serving a four-year term as the MIAA representative on the NCAA Division II Management Council until January of 2022 and is the Vice Chair for the 2019 to 2020 academic year. In his role as Vice Chair, Johnson also concurrently serves on the Division II Planning and Finance Committee and the Division II Championships Committee.
Johnson along with the other recipients will be recognized on Tuesday, June 9, during the NACDA’s 55th Annual Convention at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
