Bio

Mark Johnson Named Sports Information Director at Governors State University

- November, 2022 -

University Park, IL – Governors State University Athletic Director Tony Bates announced the hiring of Mark Johnson to the Sports Information Director position.

Johnson, a 25-year NCAA and NJCAA athletics administrator, is a native of Marquette, Michigan and graduate of Northern Michigan University. He has served NCAA athletic departments as SID at the University of Minnesota, Indiana State University, Marquette University, Lamar University in Texas, and Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Johnson takes over at GSU replacing SID Daniel Jankowski who joined the Strategic Athletic Communications staff with the Big Ten Conference earlier in the Fall of 2022 after six years with the Jaguars.

Mark was an SID at NJCAA member College of Southern Nevada in Henderson, NV (2013-2015) and worked three years at NCAA Division II Minnesota State University-Mankato. Johnson earned a master’s degree from Strayer University (2015) and is working toward his PhD in athletics administration from Northcentral University.

Johnson is very familiar to Chicago serving as Assistant Athletic Director/SID at Northeastern Illinois University (NCAA Div. 1, Mid-Continent Conference athletics, NEIU dropped athletics in 1997). He was also Sports Information Director at Chicago State University (Mid-Continent Conference) in 2002-2003.

From 2015-2022, Johnson was working community fundraising events in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula hospitals and health centers for Books Are Fun/Collective Goods, a Colorado based company directing book fairs in 17 U.P. county medical hospital facilities. With covid in 2020-2022, access to schools, hospitals, health centers was eliminated in the Upper Peninsula and around the USA forcing to cancel long-time fairs and community events on campus sites.

Mark looks forward to the GSU position. “This is an exciting time to be a part of Governors State University and Jaguar athletics. The five-year plan adding more men's and women's sports to GSU Athletics is underway. It is great to be a Jaguar and back in Chicagoland.”

Johnson’s sports information and marketing departments have earned 17 national CoSIDA writing, designing, excellence awards through the years. And he has served in NCAA tournament and conference tournament director roles at both Marquette University (NCAA first and second round men’s basketball championship) and the University of Minnesota (Big Ten Conference championships).

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