ST. LOUIS – After spending the past 20 years at the helm and leading the athletics department to new heights, Missouri Baptist University Associate Vice President & Director of Athletics Dr. Tom Smith has announced his retirement effective June 30, 2023.
 
Smith leaves a legacy at MBU far beyond his time as the Spartans' Athletics Director. The Missouri Baptist College alum was employed at MoBap first as a housekeeper before transitioning to roles in Development, Head Men's Wrestling Coach (2000-03), and Director of Admissions (1997-2002). He has been a professor in Education and Health and Sport Sciences since 2000 and was named an Associate VP in August 2015.
 
Under Smith's direction, MBU has won four NAIA national championships in women's indoor track & field (2006), women's outdoor track & field (2006), and women's volleyball (2020-21, 2021), two NAIA national invitational titles in men's volleyball (2015, 2016), an NCA Advanced Small Coed Cheer championship, and numerous individual titles in wrestling and track & field. In addition, the Spartans have won 33 conference tournament championships and 23 regular-season titles with Smith in the AD seat.
 
He has been recognized twice by NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) as an Under Armour AD of the Year in 2012-13 and 2019-20, and four times as American Midwest Conference (AMC) AD of the Year (2004-05, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2018-19).
 
During his tenure, Dr. Smith has infused more than 400 additional student-athletes on campus by creating 18 new athletic programs at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. Today, Missouri Baptist is home to 28 varsity sports, 6 JV programs, and 750+ student-athletes each year.
 
Smith was instrumental in forming the Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame, which now features roughly 70 members and spans 14 varsity sports. A future MBU Athletics Hall of Famer, Smith was inducted into the Parkway School District Hall of Fame in 2014, becoming one of just 79 at the time to receive the prestigious honor.
 
Under Smith's leadership, MBU has always been at the forefront of emerging sports sponsorship. A perfect example of that was becoming just the fifth institution across all levels to start a women's wrestling program, now one of the fastest-growing collegiate sports in the country. In addition, with his wrestling coach and administrator background, Smith has been influential in helping numerous schools start men's and women's wrestling programs through the years. Other sports that MBU has blazed the trail for as one of the earlier schools to offer athletic scholarships include men's and women's lacrosse and Esports.
 
Smith has also played a key role in athletic facility construction for the Carl & Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex and Spartan Field, both multi-million-dollar projects. The facilities have been the host site for multiple conference and national tournaments, including the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational for three years, the WCWA Women's Wrestling National Championships, the annual Pujols Family Foundation Albert's All-Star Game, the AMC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, among other high-profile events.
 
Thanks to Smith and his penchant for athletics department leadership initiatives, Missouri Baptist was among the first NAIA schools to add a Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) role to the staff and one the first to create a Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). The MBU Athletics Department has been named an NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Institution 16 times.
 
From 2009-14, Smith served as President of the AMC's Executive Committee and has also served on the NAIA's National Administrative Council (NAC), which helps initiate operational policies for conference and national competition, statistic services, awards, and event management. In addition, through the years, Smith has devoted extra time serving on several committees and task force groups at the campus, conference, and national levels.
 
Dr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and a Secondary Teaching Certification in Social Studies from Missouri Baptist College. He earned an M.S.Ed from Southwest Baptist University and attended Covenant Theological Seminary. In 2008, Dr. Smith earned his Ed.D. from Walden University in Teacher Leadership with research focus on Adult Learning and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

The University will conduct a national search to find Smith's successor. For more information about the Director of Athletics position, visit https://www.mobap.edu/about-mbu/employment/director-of-athletics/.