Greg Byrne Position: Athletics Director

Greg Byrne was named the University of Arizona's 11th director of athletics on March 22, 2010, by UA President Robert Shelton.

Byrne, 38, will officially begin his duties on May 1. He has been athletics director at Mississippi State since February 2008. He succeeded interim director of athletics Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose, who has been serving since 16-year AD Jim Livengood departed for a similar role at Nevada-Las Vegas in January 2010.

"Greg is one of the real rising stars in intercollegiate athletics," Shelton said. "In his tenure at MSU, Greg has attracted great coaches, reshaped their fundraising efforts, overseen new capital project and put together a new multimedia package. Of equal importance, Greg led the efforts to raise the academic accomplishments of MSU's student-athletes. He is going to be an outstanding addition to our University."

Byrne has 15 years of athletics administration experience at MSU, Oregon State, Oregon, Kentucky and with the Fiesta Bowl. A native of Idaho, he grew up in Eugene, Ore., where his father, Bill, was AD at the University of Oregon from 1983 to 1992. The elder Byrne is current director of athletics at Texas A&M.

At Mississippi State, Byrne was responsible for hiring head football coach Dan Mullen, head volleyball coach Jenny Hazelwood and baseball coach John Cohen, a recent Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year.

Moreover, under his guidance the academic success rate of student-athletes showed strong improvement. MSU recorded the highest grade point average in its history in the fall of 2009 with an overall GPA of 2.99. Every team was above the 925 mark in the Academic Progress Rate measurement or had recorded its highest APR to date.

Byrne was named director of athletics at MSU in early 2008 after serving as associate athletics director for external affairs in Starkville since 2006.

Byrne has been directly involved in raising more than $120 million in gifts for intercollegiate athletics during his career.

He began his athletics career with the Fiesta Bowl from 1993 to 1995, and then moved to the University of Oregon in 1995 where he was regional director of development in the athletics department. From 1998 to 2002 Byrne was Oregon State University's associate AD for development, helping overhaul its annual giving from $1 million to more than $5 million in cash gifts during his tenure. He assisted in raising more than $30 million in capital gifts and participated in securing a $12.5 million gift to rename Reser Stadium.

From 2002 to 2005 Byrne was at the University of Kentucky as associate AD for development and fundraising. He oversaw efforts that raised annual gifts from $4 million to $9 million annually. While in Lexington, he led a $35 million athletic facility campaign and participated in the design, funding and marketing for Kentucky's $30 million basketball practice facility.

Byrne then moved to Mississippi State, first as associate AD and then, at the age of 36, he became the youngest person to lead an athletic program at the NCAA Division I-A level. Multi-million dollar projects at Humphrey Coliseum and Davis Wade Stadium were initiated under Byrne's watch, along with groundwork for further facilities upgrades planned for track and golf.

Byrne earned a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in 1994 and a master's degree from Mississippi State in 2009. He and his wife, Regina, have two sons, Nick, 14, and Davis, 12.

Byrne was born in Pocatello, Idaho, on Nov. 29, 1971.