The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) selected Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as its next president. Baker will succeed Mark Emmert, who served as the president of the association for 12 years, assuming his duties on November 1, 2010. 

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“We are excited to welcome Governor Charlie Baker to the NCAA and eager for him to begin his work with our organization,” Linda Livingstone, Baylor University president and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, said in a statement. 

Who is Charlie Baker?

Baker is the current governor of Massachusetts, who first assumed office on January 8, 2015. A Republican governor in a predominantly Democratic state, Baker ran for re-election and won the general election on November 6, 2018. 

Born in Elmira, New York, and brought up in Needhan, Mass, Baker’s father was a government official, serving various roles in the administration of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Baker attended Needham High School and then graduated from Harvard University. Afterward, he worked for Massachusetts High Technology Council as a corporate communications director and later went on to secure an MBA degree from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Baker secured a position at Pioneer Institute, a newly found Think Tank in the 1980s. 

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Baker was secretary of health and human services under Gov. Weld, then secretary of administration and finance under Weld and then Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci. 

Baker joined Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates as CEO in 1998, later on becoming CEO of the non-profit Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare.

Baker served as selectman of Swampscott, Massachusetts from 2004 to 2007. 

He ran for an unsuccessful bid for Massachusetts Gubernatorial elections in 2010 against Democratic nominee Deval Patrick and went on to work for an investing firm General Catalyst. 

Baker said in December 2021 that he would not seek re-election, and will conclude his term on January 5, 2023.