Jim Johnson (athletic director)

James R. Johnson is an American university sports administrator and a former NCAA Division II conference commissioner. Johnson is currently the athletic director for Pittsburg State University, an NCAA Division II sports program in Pittsburg, Kansas.^[2] Previously, Johnson was the Commissioner of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).

Jim Johnson

Johnson speaking at a Pittsburg State Athletics banquet in 2016
Current position
Title	Athletic director
Team	Pittsburg State
Conference	MIAA
Annual salary	$163,399[1]
Biographical details
Alma mater	Tarleton State University
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1993–1997	Tarleton State (asst. AD)
1997–2003	NCAA (gov't liaison)
2003–2005	Central Missouri (assoc. AD)
2005–2007	Texas A&M–Commerce
2007–2010	MIAA (commissioner)
2010–present	Pittsburg State

Career

Johnson graduated from Tarleton State University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and in 1990 with a Master of Arts in education.^[3] After graduating from Tarleton State, Johnson became Tarleton State's men's athletic coordinator, a position he held for seven years.^[4] In 1997, Johnson left Tarleton State to become a government liaison the National Collegiate Athletic Association, specifically the Division II level.^[5] In 2003, he left the NCAA for the University of Central Missouri where he served as an associate athletics director, and in 2005, Johnson became the athletics director at Texas A&M University–Commerce.^[6]

Later career

After serving two years at Texas A&M–Commerce, Johnson was selected as the third commissioner for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) in 2010.^[7] While serving as commissioner, Johnson helped expand the conference from 10 members to 14 members, with the additions entering the conference July 1, 2012.^[8] On July 30, Johnson was selected as the 10th Athletics Director for MIAA school, Pittsburg State University.^[9]

While at Pittsburg State, Johnson has served on the NCAA Division II Football Committee, as well as the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.^[3]