Mike Williams to step down at the end of his contract

Cal Athletics announced that Mike Williams will not seek a renewal of his contract once the end of his current contract is up. (which ends May 2018)

Here's the press release:

BERKELEY – Mike Williams '82, who has overseen the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of California, Berkeley since July 2014, informed Chancellor Carol Christ on Tuesday that he will not seek an extension of his contract.

Williams, who came out of retirement at the request of former Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, served as interim Cal AD for the first 10 months of his tenure before being named the school's fulltime Director of Athletics in May 2015. His contract with the school runs through May 6, 2018.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our great university as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics," Williams said. "This is a great department full of people who are passionate about what they do and truly believe in the mission of creating development opportunities for our student-athletes and providing them with a great experience.

"I believe we took some very important steps forward to best position Cal Athletics for the challenges that await on the road ahead," Williams added. "I committed for three years to lead our Golden Bear staff, coaches, teams and student-athletes. We are nearing the end of that period and I believe it is time for IA to start its next chapter with respect to how we operate based on campus' long-term view of what the athletic department at Cal will look like going forward. Athletics is a critical and integral component of the college experience and I believe we need to do everything possible to help it be successful."

"Mike has done an extraordinary job supporting and improving the academic performance of Cal Athletics' student-athletes," Christ said. "He has shown an unwavering commitment to their welfare, and to the quality of their experiences in the classroom and their competitive arenas. I deeply appreciate his service to the University."

As Director of Athletics, Williams manages a unit that supports 850 student-athletes and 30 intercollegiate programs. Over the course of his term, Golden Bears have captured 10 national team championships and 25 individual, relay or boat titles. Cal also placed 14th in the annual Learfield Directors' Cup standings in 2017, the 18th consecutive year the Bears have been among the top 20. In addition, Cal athletes came home from the 2016 Olympics in Rio with 21 medals, including 12 gold.

Williams' connection to Cal dates back nearly 40 years to when he first enrolled as an undergraduate and was a member of the Golden Bear wrestling team. Not only is he an alum, but he is also a Builder of Berkeley and longtime university volunteer, an involvement he intends to maintain after his term as Director of Athletics ends.

Williams accepted his fulltime appointment three years ago with three primary goals – improve the student-athlete experience on campus, develop new revenue strategies and activate a plan for the long-term financial sustainability of the athletic department.

In the classroom, NCAA test scores show that Cal student-athletes continue to perform well with rising Academic Progress Rates. For the most recent set of data from the 2015-16 academic year, a record 14 of 25 measured teams posted a one-year APR of 1,000 – the highest possible. Men's basketball and football recorded their highest four-year scores ever, and a Cal-record seven teams earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards for their APR results.

Williams has overseen the implementation of more than a dozen recommendations from a report from the Chancellor's Task Force on Academics and Athletics, issued in September 2014, that are intended to maximize the academic performance of student-athletes and the overall quality of their campus experience. Additionally, he has worked with colleagues in the NCAA and Pac-12 to institute a number of student-athlete reforms, including enhanced medical coverage, adding the cost of attendance to the value of a scholarship and, beginning this year, providing required time off from athletic-based activities to allow more opportunities to engage in interests across campus.

Williams has taken a number of steps to help improve the financial stability of the department through new revenue generation. Most significantly, 10-year partnerships with Under Armour (apparel) and Learfield (multimedia rights and licensing) took effect July 1 and will provide nearly $8 million more annually than previous agreements in those areas. In addition, the August 2016 football game against Hawai'i in Sydney, Australia, generated about $1 million more than a typical home non-conference contest and a men's basketball game in Sacramento provided more revenue than a similar home contest in Berkeley.

Through philanthropic efforts under Williams' leadership, Cal Athletics established its first endowed head coaching position – the Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf – and has seen success engaging with many of Cal's professional athletes. On the facilities front, Haas Pavilion recently underwent a $10 million renovation that included a new center scoreboard, and new venues opened for swimming & diving and water polo (Legends Aquatic Center) and field hockey (Underhill Field).

Williams began his professional career at Data Resources, Inc., before becoming a debt trader and corporate finance officer for Bank of America. He joined Barclays Global Investors in 1993 and retired from the company in 2009 as vice chair of Capital Markets. Other roles at BGI included head of the Global Index and Markets Group, where he was directly responsible for over $1.1 trillion in assets, head of Global Securities Lending and CEO, President and Trustee of BGI's mutual funds.

Williams was elected to the UC Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees in 2007, joined the Foundation's Executive Committee in 2009 and served as vice chair of the executive committee from 2013-15. He was also on the advisory boards of the UC Berkeley Division of Equity and Inclusion, the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund, the Social Science Matrix, Bronze Investments and several nonprofit boards, including the California Heritage Trust. He remains a member of the advisory board of the College of Letters and Science.

Williams earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1982. He later received an MBA in finance from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA in 1988.