The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Announces Mark Ingram As Athletic Director
5/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Following a national search led by a 19-member search committee made up of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community supporters, the University of Alabama at Birmingham has announced that Mark Ingram will be the institution's athletic director.
Ingram, who will leave his position as associate vice president/executive senior associate athletics director at Temple University to join the UAB Athletic Department, has successfully led athletic development offices at four Football Bowl Subdivision schools over the past decade.
"Having spent time as a student-athlete, then years as an administrator at the University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, University of Missouri and Temple University in several roles, Mark has a track record that has impressed and excited us," said UAB President Ray L. Watts. "He also has great energy and a strong desire to be at UAB."
Ingram is in his third year at Temple and his second in the associate vice president/executive senior associate athletics director role; he also serves as sport administrator for Men's Golf and Women's Lacrosse. Ingram joined Temple from the University of Tennessee, where he was senior associate athletic director.
In five years at Tennessee, his alma mater where he was a two-year starter for the Vol's football team, Ingram was responsible for the planning and strategy for the department's Capital Campaign that raised $336 million during his tenure. Prior to joining the Tennessee staff, he served as assistant athletics director for development at the University of Georgia for two years and assistant athletics director for development at the University of Missouri.
"In a deep pool of impressive, qualified candidates provided by our search firm, Mark Ingram emerged among the top of that very strong group," said Harold Jones, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Health Professions and chair of the Athletic Director Search Committee. "Across the board, Mark received extremely high praise from the search committee, which found him to be an outstanding candidate for the position."
Ingram, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and minors in business and psychology. As a student-athlete, Ingram was a two-time Academic All-SEC honoree and was twice awarded the Volunteer award, given to the most valuable player who was formerly a walk-on. Also a member of the SEC Good Works Team, Ingram earned his master's degree in sport administration from Tennessee in 1997.
"I am both humbled and honored with the opportunity that Dr. Watts and the search committee have entrusted me with," Ingram said. "The staff, coaches, student-athletes and donors I met were all engaged and energetic about the future. They are proud of this great institution and eager to compete for championships. That's what UAB, our fans and alumni, and the city of Birmingham deserve, and we're going to work together every day to do just that."
Ingram will be officially introduced to the UAB community at a reception preceding the Blazers' May 5 Men's Baseball game at Regions Field against Alabama State.
"I hope people will come meet Mark and his family and see why the committee and our leadership team believe in his ability to lead UAB Athletics," Watts said. "I want to thank the search committee for their good work and to welcome Mark and his family to Birmingham."
Ingram has been married for 17 years to his wife, Amy, and has four children, John (13), Anne Lauren (11), Charlie (9) and Audrey (6).
About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer, with some 23,000 employees and an economic impact exceeding $5 billion annually on the state. The five pillars of UAB's mission deliver knowledge that will change your world: the education of students, who are exposed to multidisciplinary learning and a new world of diversity; research, the creation of new knowledge; patient care, the outcome of `bench-to-bedside' translational knowledge; service to the community at home and around the globe, from free clinics in local neighborhoods to the transformational experience of the arts; and the economic development of Birmingham and Alabama. Learn more at www.uab.edu.
