JAMES HIXSON

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Jaime Hixson, who was promoted to Director of Operations in July 2008, is in his fifth year with the Mountain West. He served as the Media Relations/Championships intern during the spring of 2005 before being hired full-time that July. Hixson will continue working directly with MWC Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland coordinating football operations including scheduling, television, instant replay, game officials and other football-related items. In addition, Hixson handles several operational aspects of the MWC's Men's and Women's Basketball Championships and works with the media relations staff during the football season. In 2008-09, he will add the role of sport and championship administrator for baseball to his responsibilities.

Hixson spent the 2003-04 season as a graduate assistant in the University of Illinois Intercollegiate Athletics Department, working in the Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing Department. He also completed two internships - in event management and public relations - working with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

In 2002, Hixson worked as a sideline media liaison with the Chicago Bears for home games played at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

A native of Ivesdale, Ill., the 29-year-old Hixson earned his bachelor's degree in liberal arts and sciences with a concentration in speech communications from the University of Illinois in 2002 and received his master's degree in sports management from Illinois in 2004. Hixson now resides in Monument.