2025 Honoree Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker assumed the duties as the NCAA's sixth president on March 1, 2023.  

He was hired for the position on Dec. 15, 2022, as he neared the conclusion of his term as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts. 

A former collegiate athlete at Harvard, Baker is credited with bringing bipartisan leadership to the state, successfully guiding Massachusetts through an exceptionally turbulent period for government officials. In addition to his two terms as governor, he has brought decades of experience spearheading transformations at high-profile institutions in the private and public sectors. 

Baker arrived at the NCAA at a moment of significant transformation. Legal shifts in the environment surrounding college sports have challenged the NCAA's ability to serve as an effective national regulator for college athletics, resulting in an untenable patchwork of individual state laws. Partnering with federal policymakers to develop a consistent, sustainable legal framework to address issues common to student-athletes and athletic departments across the country is a top and immediate priority. 

Prior to his tenure as governor, Baker had a distinguished career in business, nonprofit and government administration. 

Baker is a graduate of Harvard, where he was a member of the men's varsity basketball team, and holds a Master's of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is married to Lauren Baker, a former collegiate gymnast at Northwestern University, and father to three children (two of whom are former college athletes): Charlie, AJ and Caroline.