Chris Martin - Commissioner, College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin

Martin

Chris Martin became the first full-time commissioner for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) on July 1, 2002. He is the chief athletic administrative officer for the eight member colleges and universities of the CCIW. He succeeded Merle Chapman, who had served as the conference commissioner since 1997.

During his eight-year tenure, Martin has implemented a number of positive changes, including three new corporate partners, four additional sports equipment partners, a re-design of the CCIW website and new CCIW marks. In addition, Martin played a major role in implementing a strategic plan for the conference, and also created a proposal to eliminate redshirting at the Division III level. In addition, the CCIW is the only Division III conference office who is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champs/Life Skills program.

In January 2009, Martin became a member of the NCAA Division III Management Council after serving four years as a member of the NCAA Division III Membership Committee. In January 2010, Martin assumed the role of vice chair of the Division III Management Council. Following the 2011 NCAA Convention, Martin will assume the role of chair of the Division III Management Council, a term that will run for one year (January 2011 to January 2012).

Martin came to the CCIW after working four years with the NCAA. The last two he served as the Division III Governance Liaison. In that capacity he served as the chief legislative liaison for the Division III Presidents Council and Management Council.

As the Division III Governance Liaison, he was responsible for the revision and production of the Division III manual. Prior to assuming his position as the Division III Governance Liaison with the NCAA, Martin worked for 18 months as a membership services representative.

He worked for two years as the baseball operations assistant with the San Diego Padres where he assisted the front office on baseball related projects, including player transactions and contract issues. He helped coordinate draft efforts and player evaluations for contractual purposes. Martin got his start with the Padres as a public affairs/media relations intern in September of 1995 before becoming an executive office intern in June of 1996.

Martin has a Master's degree in sports management from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia (August, 1996) and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Whittier College in Whittier, California (May, 1994). In addition to serving on the Management Council, Martin also served three years as a member of the executive committee for the Division III Commissioner’s Association before being elected president of that group in January 2009. He is currently the chair of the Division III Commissioner’s Association’s marketing committee.

He resides in Aurora and has two children, son Justin (12) and daughter Margaret (10).