Miami RedHawks

Brad Bates

Director of Athletics
Years at Miami: Eighth Year
Alma Mater: University of Michigan (BS, `81, MA, `82), Vanderbilt University (Ed.D., `97)

A progressive and driving force behind Miami University's athletic department since his arrival in November of 2002, Brad Bates has been instrumental in not only upholding Miami's storied athletic tradition but also in ushering Miami athletics into the next generation of intercollegiate athletics.

Bates' unique vision of developing a Culture of Champions at Miami has made the RedHawk athletic program a model for all intercollegiate athletic programs. In 2007, Miami president David Hodge rewarded Bates by extending his contract for an additional five years.

Over the past nearly seven years, Bates has presided over a department that made back-to-back football bowl game appearances for the first time in nearly 30 years, while capturing conference championships in football, women's cross country, ice hockey, baseball, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, men's and women's swimming and diving, soccer, tennis, softball and synchronized skating.

In 2008-09, Miami's women's teams won the Mid-American Conference's Jacoby Award for athletic excellence for the second consecutive year, including tournament championships and NCAA berths for softball and tennis. Also on the women's side, the RedHawk swimming and diving and women's cross country teams won the MAC championship and the synchronized skating's senior and collegiate teams won national titles. The ice hockey program reached unprecedented heights, making it to its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and playing in the NCAA Championship game.

Miami also has won the Reese Trophy, an all-sport award presented annually to the MAC institution with the best all-around men's sports programs, in three of his nearly seven seasons.

In addition to the RedHawks' athletic success during his tenure, Bates has spearheaded efforts to improve the "athletic classrooms" in which Miami's student-athletes compete to rate among the best in the nation. Renovations to Yager Stadium continue, with plans for an indoor facility in the works. Already added to Yager are new stands on the east side, a state-of-the-art scoreboard, permanent lighting, Cradle of Coaches Plaza and a FieldTurf playing surface.

Additionally, Miami unveiled several new and renovated facilities three years ago: a brand new softball field, a state-of-the-art ice hockey facility, and a renovated field hockey field that was upgraded with a new artificial turf surface and press box.

Paramount among Bates' accomplishments has been the department's success in graduating its student-athletes. According to the most recent Federal Graduation Rates report, an extraordinary 75 percent of Miami's student-athletes who started college in 2001-02 graduated within six years. That is 11 percent better than the national student-athlete graduation rate of 64 percent. Additionally, over the first three years of the NCAA's Academic Performance Rate (APR), Miami has consistently ranked among the best Division I-A programs nationally, with a number of its individual programs posting the highest scores nationally.

Bates, who came to Miami after 17 years at Vanderbilt University, achieved a doctorate in education at Vanderbilt in 1997. This followed the bachelor's and master's degrees he earned in education at the University of Michigan in 1981 and 1982. At Vanderbilt, along with overseeing the administration of all 15 sports, Bates, a Senior Associate A.D. when he departed, was highly involved in the department's budgetary, marketing, development, licensing and Title IX compliance decision-making.

Athletically, Bates was a walk-on defensive back for Michigan from 1977-81. He played for then-Wolverine head football coach Bo Schembechler, a 1951 Miami alumnus and member of Miami's legendary Cradle of Coaches. In his four years as a player, the Wolverines won three Big Ten Championships, posted a record of 37-11-0 and played in three Rose Bowls and a Gator Bowl.

Bates and his wife, Michele, reside in Oxford.

The Bates File

Education
High School: Port Huron (MI), 1977
College: Michigan, 1981 (education)
Masters: Michigan, 1982 (education)
Doctorate: Vanderbilt, 1998 (education)

Experience

Notes of Interest

• Played for the football team at the University of Michigan under Miami University legend Bo Schembechler.
• Twice during his tenure at Vanderbilt, the football program earned the American Football Coaches Association award for the highest graduation rate in college football.
• Helped negotiate Vanderbilt's rights contract with the Tennessee Titans for the 1998 season.