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In Baddour's 10 years as Director of Athletics, the Tar Heels have won 54 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, nine more than Duke, which is second. Nineteen different UNC men's and women's sports have won ACC titles during his tenure. Last season, five teams - baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's soccer and women's swimming and diving - won ACC titles, marking the seventh time in the last 10 years UNC led the league in the number of team championships. Women's soccer reclaimed the NCAA championship, and baseball and women's basketball advanced to their second straight College World Series and Final Four, respectively.
The Tar Heels finished third in 2006-07 in the US Sports Academy Directors' Cup and have averaged a sixth-place finish in the last six seasons. The Directors' Cup measures NCAA postseason performance. This was the eighth time in Baddour's tenure as athletics director that UNC was the highest finishing ACC school in the Directors' Cup. For the second year in a row, 24 of 28 teams qualified for NCAA postseason competition. It was the sixth consecutive year in which at least 20 Tar Heel teams participated in NCAA postseason play. Carolina also had national champions in men's and women's track and field and women's tennis (doubles).
"Dick Baddour is a man of integrity who is committed to fielding teams that demonstrate excellence in all aspects of University life," says Chancellor James Moeser.
The Carolina Leadership Academy, a training program for student-athletes, coaches and administrators initiated by Baddour, completed its third year. The program develops leadership skills through interactive workshops, 360-degree feedback, one-on-one coaching, peer mentoring and educational resources. The program has trained nearly 1,000 student-athletes and is considered an overwhelming success by Carolina's coaches and a national model.
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 six 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. Last year, he hired Butch Davis, who returned the University of Miami to national prominence in the `90s, to lead the Carolina football program.
Baddour emphasizes academic achievement. Last year, 291 student-athletes made the ACC Academic Honor Roll, 329 made the Dean's List and every program fared well in the NCAA's APR.
Baddour has worked diligently to ensure a sound financial future for the athletics program. He worked out funding for several facility enhancement projects, scholarships and operating budgets. He also 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.
Currently, Baddour is overseeing major facility projects designed for Kenan Stadium, Boshamer Stadium, Carmichael Auditorium, sports medicine and wrestling.
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 a daughter, Lauren, and son, Johnathan; Jennifer, a family therapist in private practice in Cary, is married to Kevin Snead.
