Jim Livengood
Arizona Athletics Director

Jim Livengood became UA's eighth athletics director in January 1994 and has provided leadership that has brought an already successful program to new heights competitively and administratively. During his tenure, UA has maintained its top-10 competitive record with overall national rankings by the Sears Directors' Cup of sixth in 1993-94; fourth in 1994-95; seventh in 1995-96, sixth in 1996-97, sixth in 1997-98, and ninth in 1998-99. This record reflects success throughout Arizona's broad-based program, highlighted by participation in the 1994 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four, and becoming the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's National Basketball Champions; winning the 1994, 1996 and 1997 NCAA Division I National Softball Championships, along with the 1996 NCAA Women's Golf title.

Livengood is uniquely prepared. Since coming to Arizona he has earned the respect of staff, community and colleagues alike, and has become well known for his hands-on, personable approach, and his involvement with the community.

He is active on the regional and national level. Livengood became a member of the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Committee in May 1999. He currently chairs the Pac-10 Bowl Committee and serves on the Pac-10 Revenue Sharing and the Conference Enforcement Review Committee, is the Pac-10 Athletics Directors' Committee liaison to basketball coaches, and serves on the Basketball Officiating Committee.

He is among national leaders in gender equity issues, continuing these efforts through his service to the Pac-10 Gender Equity Committee and his continued diligent work to place the Arizona Athletics program in a leadership role in that regard.

On the national scene, Livengood served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 1998-99 and is a member of the NACDA Sears Directors' Cup and NACDA Preseason Football Games Committees. He was president of Division I-A Athletics Directors Association in 1998-99 and chairs the Division I-A Football Issues Committee. He is active as a member of the NCAA Peer Review Committee. Livengood's hard work was recognized in the spring of 1999 when he was named the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)/Continental Airlines Division IA athletic director of the year. He was one of six overall winners of the award and the only Division IA award winner.

No stranger to the Pacific-10 Conference, Livengood spent half a dozen years as athletics director at Washington State where he developed a competitive program and earned high marks for his ability to maintain fiscal management, directing what is still widely regarded as a model gender equity program, and developing a powerful hands-on approach to community affairs and fund-raising.

During his tenure at WSU, Livengood served as vice president of the Pac-10 and also served on the league's revenue sharing committee, planning committee and chair of the television, and budget and appraisal committees. In addition, he served on the NCAA's Women's Committee and Gender Equity Task Force and the Executive Committee of NACDA.

In Tucson, Livengood has immersed himself in local community and civic activities. He serves on the board of directors for Arizona Easter Seals and the Tucson Metropolitan YMCA. He is a member of the Tucson Rotary Club, the United Way of Greater Tucson, the Tucson Chamber of Commerce, and the VIP Breakfast Club. Livengood's local activities only add to an impressive list of community service. He previously served as a member of the Washington Special Olympics, the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, the Pullman Cub Scouts, the Pullman Rotary Club, the Greater Spokane Sports Association, Illinois Special Olympics, Illinois United Way, Carbondale Parks and Recreation, the Southern Illinois Coalition for Economic Development and the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce.

Born in Quincy, Wash., Livengood earned honorable mention all-state honors in basketball at Quincy High School. He attended Washington State, Everett (Wash.) Community College and Brigham Young University, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education from BYU in 1968. He completed his fifth-year education requirement for teaching certification at Central Washington in 1972.

Livengood taught and was assistant football coach and track coach at Moses Lake High School in Washington in 1968-69, was head football and basketball coach and taught at Oroville High in 1969-72 and was athletics director, head football and basketball coach and counselor at Ephrata High in Washington in 1972-80.

Washington State hired Livengood as its Cage Camp director in 1980-81 and promoted him to assistant athletics director in charge of Cage Camp and high school relations in 1981-82. He was associate athletics director responsible for development and public relations in 1982-85. Livengood moved to Southern Illinois University in 1985-87 as director of athletics, where he oversaw a 20-sport Saluki program in the Missouri Valley Conference and the Gateway Conference. He served as President of the Gateway Conference in 1986-87. Washington State rehired him as athletic director on September 1, 1987. Livengood and his wife, Linda, have two children. Both are attending The University of Arizona. Michelle is in the College of Law and Jeremy is an undergraduate.