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Baddour currently has the third-longest tenure as athletic director in the ACC and is one of three to serve as athletic director at Carolina for 10 or more years since the league was formed in 1954.
The Tar Heels have won 58 ACC championships during his tenure, 11 more than Duke, which is second. Nineteen different UNC men's and women's sports have won conference titles during his tenure. UNC has led the league in team championships in seven of the last 11 seasons. Last year, field hockey won the national championship with an unbeaten season, men's basketball won its second consecutive ACC title and played in the Final Four, the women's basketball team went undefeated in ACC play and won its fourth consecutive ACC championship and the baseball team advanced to the College World Series for an ACC record-tying third straight year.
The Tar Heels led all ACC schools in 2008-09 with a 14th place finish nationally in the US Sports Academy Directors' Cup. Carolina has averaged an eighth-place finish in Baddour's 11 years at the helm (the Directors' Cup measures NCAA postseason performance). UNC has finished first among ACC schools in the Directors' Cup nine times in the last 11 years. At least 23 of 28 Tar Heel teams have qualified for NCAA postseason competition in each of the last three seasons.
During Baddour's tenure, the Tar Heels have won national championships in men's basketball, men's and women's soccer and field hockey, won two football bowl games and had numerous Top 10 national finishes in Olympic Sports. UNC has won 23 individual national titles in the last seven seasons.
Baddour has hired head coaches in eight sports, overseen renovations or created plans to update virtually every facility in the athletic complex, expanded the direction and staffing for student-athlete services and worked tirelessly to set the program on sound financial footing.
Baddour emphasizes academic achievement and the overall student experience. Last year, 295 student-athletes made the ACC Academic Honor Roll, 303 earned Dean's List honors, and every program fared well in the NCAA's APR. Baddour initiated the concept for the Carolina Leadership Academy, a training program for student-athletes, coaches and administrators, which has completed its fourth year. The program develops leadership skills through interactive workshops, 360-degree feedback, one-on-one coaching, peer mentoring and educational resources. Carolina's coaches consider the program an overwhelming success and a model for schools across the nation.
Baddour has made it a top priority to ensure the athletic department stays financially strong. The department and Rams Club helped to raise $245 million over the last eight seasons in support of the Carolina First campaign, increasing the scholarship endowment to $190 million. He worked out funding for several facility enhancement projects, scholarships and operating budgets. He negotiated partnerships with Nike to outfit the athletic program, with Learfield Communications to direct UNC's multi-media properties, and with Wachovia for on-site sponsorship in the Smith Center. The Nike deal was widely praised as one of the most socially conscious contracts of its kind with respect to global labor issues. With regard to the Wachovia contract, Baddour was credited with working diligently over several years to balance the Carolina culture and the need for sound financial partnerships.
The athletic department and Rams Club moved into the Ernie Williamson Athletics Center in December 2007 and the Carolina Basketball Museum opened its doors a month later. More than 25,000 visitors toured the museum in its first six months. Currently, he is overseeing major facility projects designed for Kenan Stadium, Boshamer Stadium, Carmichael Auditorium, sports medicine and wrestling. Kenan Stadium will undergo a multi-year renovation that will begin after the 2008 season; Boshamer was closed for renovations last year, but is scheduled to open again in 2009; and Carmichael will be closed for renovations throughout the upcoming season. All three of those projects mark the greatest period of refurbishments since each respective facility was first built.
Baddour began his UNC career in 1967 as assistant dean of men. In 1971 he became assistant dean of undergraduate admissions. He served as Assistant Dean at the UNC School of Law from 1983 to 1986. He served as the school's director of admissions and scholarship programs, head of personnel and supervisor of career planning and placement.
Baddour spent 11 years as John Swofford's top assistant before being named the Director of Athletics on June 25, 1997. In 2001, he received a Distinguished Service Medal from the UNC General Alumni Association.
Baddour and his wife, Lynda, have three children. Allen, a superior court judge for Orange and Chatham Counties, and his wife, Holly, have two sons, Henry and Jack; David, an attorney with RTP-based Womble-Carlyle, and his wife, Carey, have two daughters, Lauren and Julia, and son, Johnathan; Jennifer, a family therapist in private practice in Cary, is married to Kevin Snead.
