Gary Barta, University of Iowa Athletic Director

Gary Barta begins his fourth year as the director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Iowa and his 23rd year in athletics administration eager to build on the achievements and progress made in a challenging but rewarding 2008-09. The Hawkeyes enjoyed a very successful 2008-09 year competitively. The UI scored a school-record 474.30 points to finish 45th in the 2009 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup competition, a finish fueled by Iowa's victory over South Carolina in the 2009 Outback Bowl, the Hawkeyes' second straight Big Ten Conference and NCAA titles in wrestling, a third straight Big Ten Tournament title and a berth in the national semi-finals by the UI's field hockey team, and a 17th place finish by the UI men's golf team at its national championship, and NCAA Tournament or national championship participation by Iowa's women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming and diving, and men's and women's indoor track teams, and men's and women's gymnastics programs.

Under Barta's leadership, Iowa's long-standing commitment to the academic pursuits of the more than 700 student-athletes who annually represent the UI in intercollegiate athletics competition continues. According to graduation statistics distributed each fall by the NCAA, the class of student-athletes that entered the UI at the start of the 2001-02 academic year had a graduation rate of 68 percent, a mark that compared favorably to the 66 percent rate compiled by the overall student population at the University of Iowa.

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 (11) and a daughter, Madison (9). He was born September 4, 1963, in Minneapolis, Minn.