Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics: 1983-2023

Jerry Hughes dedicated more than 40 years of his life to laying the foundation for successes that included regional and national championships, improved sports playing facilities, and the recruitment of thousands of outstanding student-athletes at the University of Central Missouri. Hughes served as UCM’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics from 1983-2023 before passing away in January 2023.

Hughes’s dedication to quality athletic teams resulted in many forms of recognition for the Mules and Jennies.  Under his leadership, Central Missouri won 10 national championships and had 50 other top-four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) finishes. The Mules and Jennies also won 179 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) championships and made more than 300 NCAA postseason appearances.

The Central Missouri athletics program also won the MIAA All-Sports Trophy each year from 1998-99 (the year of the award’s inception) until the award was discontinued in 2002-03 and took home the first two MIAA Commissioner’s Cups following the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons and again in 2019-20 and 2020-21. UCM finished second in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors’ Cup standings in 2010-11, the best finish in university and MIAA history after finishing third the previous two years. In the 25-year history of the Directors’ Cup, UCM has 14 Top 10 finishes and 22 Top 20 finishes.

During his tenure, Hughes spearheaded a fundraising project that led to major renovations for Central Missouri’s Audrey J. Walton Stadium at Vernon Kennedy Field and James R. Crane Stadium at Robert N. Tompkins Field, as well as the development of the South Recreation Complex and a new clubhouse at Keth Memorial Golf Course. In 2015, he oversaw the redesign of the university’s golf course and its transition to Mules National Golf Club. Hughes was also instrumental in the construction of the new Roger Denker Wrestling Facility at the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center, which opened in January 2023. 

In addition to his work at UCM, Hughes held multiple leadership positions for committees in Division II. He served on the NCAA Executive Committee and as chair of the Division II Championships Committee. He also served a term as NCAA vice president for Division II and was a member of the NCAA Council, making him the only person to twice hold the highest-ranking office available to athletics administrators in Division II. Other NCAA committees on which he has served are the Membership Structure Committee, Administrative Committee, and Post-Season Football Subcommittee. He has chaired the NCAA Division II Management Council and Membership Growth Project Team and been a member of the NCAA Budget and Finance Committee and NCAA Administrative Review Panel, as well as the NACDA Directors’ Cup Committee.

Hughes was named Central Region Athletics Director of the Year for the 1998-99, 2001-02, 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons by NACDA. He is the only Athletics Director to receive the honor four times. Hughes was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and in 2016 was named a Missouri Sports Legend, the highest honor bestowed by the Hall of Fame. Hughes earned the Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) Award of Merit in 2022. It is the highest honor presented by the organization and is reserved for individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the entire Division II membership and the Division II student- athlete experience. 

Hughes was posthumously named the male winner of the prestigious 2023 NCAA Division II 50th Anniversary Gold Award in January 2024 for making a lasting and positive impact in Division II.

Hughes graduated from UCM in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, having lettered for Mules Golf during his undergraduate studies, and he received his master’s degree in secondary school administration in 1979. He joined the university that same year as a business placement director and became assistant athletics director in July 1981. He was named athletics director in January 1983.