Gary Barta

Gary Barta (born September 4, 1963) was the athletic director at the University of Iowa.

Barta retired from the university on July 31, 2023.

Barta was born on 4 September 1963, and grew up in the Minneapolis area.

Barta earned his bachelor's degree from North Dakota State University (NDSU).

While at NDSU, he was a member of the Bison football teams that won the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 1983, 1985, and 1986.

Barta was the athletic director at the University of Wyoming from 2003 to 2006.

In early 2005, Barta was a finalist for the athletic director position at Arizona State University.

Prior to serving as the athletic director at Wyoming, Barta served as an administrator in the athletic departments at the University of Washington and University of Northern Iowa.

Barta became the director of athletics at the University of Iowa on 1 August 2006.

He has spearheaded numerous upgrades to existing athletic facilities and the construction of many new facilities, including the expansion of the administrative office complex at Carver–Hawkeye Arena, the expansion of the wrestling training facility, and the building of new practice gyms and weight training facilities at the Carver–Hawkeye Arena.

Other upgrades include improvement of the sound system, scoreboard and video boards at Kinnick Stadium, construction of the Hoak Family Golf Complex, and building both the P. Sue Beckwith Boat House and the Campus Recreation and Aquatic Center in partnership with the university's department of recreational services.

Iowa's NACDA Director's Cup Big Ten Rankings By Year under Barta: 2006-07: 11th(out of 11); 2007-08: 11th(out of 11); 2008-09: 10th(out of 11); 2009-10: 11th(out of 11); 2010-11: 9th(out of 11); 2011-12: 12th(out of 12); 2012-13: 12th(out of 12); 2013-14: 12th(out of 12); 2014-15: 10th(out of 14); 2015-16: 13th(out of 14)

In February 2016, the President Bruce Harreld extended Barta's contract through 30 June 2021.

The new contract includes $4.6 million in guaranteed compensation with an increase each in annual base salary, annual deferred compensation, and annual bonuses.

In November 2012, Peter Gray, associate director of athletic student services, resigned from University of Iowa after an internal investigation accused him of sexually harassing male student-athletes.

Gray was also accused of giving football tickets to someone outside the university in exchange for nude photographs.

He also had pictures on his work computer that were considered "suggestive in nature", including a picture of the men's swimming team he used as a screen saver and two showing individuals engaged in sexual acts with toys or stuffed animals.

Iowa had earlier conducted an investigation, and at least some of Gray's behavior had been known for years.

In the fall of 2014, the new Stew & LeNore Hansen Football Performance Center was completed, which includes the new Richard O. Jacobson Football Operations Center and a new 120-yard indoor practice field.

Also in late 2014, a new artificial baseball playing surface was installed at Duane Banks Field.

On 4 August 2014, Barta fired field hockey coach, Tracey Griesbaum, following what he said were allegations from a group of former players who complained that Griesbaum had been verbally abusive to them, and had created an atmosphere of intimidation within the program.

This led to a vocal outcry from many current and former players and other supporters who called for the immediate reinstatement of Griesbaum as the head coach.

The Iowa Board of Regents and then University of Iowa President Sally Mason refused to hear or consider any appeal to the dismissal.

This led to four current and former field hockey players filing, on 28 January 2015, a formal Title IX Civil Rights complaint to the U.S Department of Education.

After an initial inquiry, the US Department of Education informed the University of Iowa on 22 May 2015, that it will conduct a formal investigation to determine if gender bias was a factor in the firing of Griesbaum and other female coaches at Iowa.

On 27 July 2015, Griesbaum filed a formal civil rights complaint against the University of Iowa with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

In 2016, new video scoreboards were installed at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Barta has hired numerous new head coaches during his tenure, including Mark Hankins and Tyler Stith (men's golf); Ross Wilson (men's tennis); Todd Lickliter and Fran McCaffery (men's basketball); Rick Heller (baseball); Joey Woody (track & field); Sharon Dingman and Bond Shymansky (women's volleyball); Steve Pitzker and Andrew Carter (women's crew); Dave DiIanni (women's soccer); Katie Dougherty and Sasha Schmid (women's tennis); Megan Menzel (women's golf); Lisa Cellucci (field hockey); and Marla Looper (softball).

On 27 January 2016, the athletic department agreed to a $200,000 settlement in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by former women's assistant track coach, Michael Scott.

Scott had been hired on an interim basis but was passed over for the permanent position due to a university mandate that a female be hired for the position.

On 5 May 2016, a story by Annie Brown of the Center for Investigative Reporting was published on the organization's Reveal website and carried on its radio program.

Brown said the names of those who made the allegations were never revealed.

She sought to find them.

Reaching out to 60 of Griesbaum's former players, "hoping to find one who complained or thought the allegations of verbal abuse or forcing athletes to play injured were justified. Twenty-four agreed to speak, but none had anything negative to say about Griesbaum," Brown reported.

The story noted that Barta has fired 5 female coaches since becoming athletic director, but when pressed by Brown, Barta declined to discuss the number of females at the university, saying the issue is a national problem.

In October 2017, it was revealed that Barta has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He notified the university that he will be taking an extended leave of absence until he is able to recover.

Barbara Burke took over the athletic director responsibilities while Barta received treatment.

On May 26, 2023, Barta announced his retirement from the post.

His AD tenure will be exactly 17 years long as his last day will be August 1, 2023.