Chris Barker serves as the Executive Associate Athletic Director/Chief Revenue Officer at Northern Illinois University, a role he assumed in January 2026. A veteran athletics administrator with a strong record of revenue growth, strategic leadership and external engagement, Barker oversees all revenue-generation units for NIU Athletics. He also continues to serve as the department’s liaison to the NIU Alumni Association and NIU Foundation while providing sport administration oversight.
Barker joined NIU in 2023 as Senior Associate AD for Development and Revenue Generation, bringing more than a decade of experience leading fundraising, corporate relations, and external operations across multiple NCAA institutions. His leadership has helped accelerate NIU’s philanthropic momentum, enhance community engagement, and expand the overall financial footprint of Huskie Athletics.
Prior to NIU, Barker served as Director of Athletics at Southern Connecticut State University, where he guided the department to historic increases in revenue and donor participation, an 80 percent rise in corporate partnerships, and the program’s first-ever apparel agreement with Nike/BSN. His tenure included major facility enhancements and the creation of new student-athlete support initiatives in academics, mental health, leadership and nutrition.
Before SCSU, Barker held progressively senior roles at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, culminating as Deputy Director of Athletics. He helped execute the largest fundraising and facility campaign in the school’s athletics history and secured multiple naming rights agreements.
A former baseball student-athlete at Madison College and UNC-Greensboro, Barker earned his bachelor’s degree in communication studies from UNCG and a master’s degree from Delaware State University. He completed the prestigious NCAA Pathways Program in 2019 and has served on multiple NCAA committees throughout his career.
A native of Racine, Wis., Chris and his wife, Emily, a former UW-Whitewater golfer, have two sons, Henry and Beau, and one daughter, Hazel.
