CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D., a servant leader throughout his career in college athletics, has been appointed to the NCAA Board of Governors.
The Board of Governors is the NCAA’s highest legislative body and includes only one league commissioner. Bringing together presidents and chancellors from each division, former student-athletes, along with select leaders from inside and outside the NCAA membership, the board is responsible for leading the NCAA and presiding over issues that affect the entire membership.
The Board of Governors consists of nine voting members and seven ex officio nonvoting members.
Phillips will serve a two-year term, expiring August 2026, representing all of Division I, as a voting member on the board.
"I am truly honored to have been appointed to the NCAA Board of Governors and to be given the opportunity to elevate the student-athlete experience and tackle the challenges in higher education today and in the future," Phillips said. "To be certain, this is a time of great change, and I eagerly anticipate collaborating with my colleagues to prioritize all of our student-athletes and advocate for their best interests."
The fifth commissioner in ACC history, Phillips began his tenure on February 1, 2021. He has more than three decades of experience in NCAA Division I athletics, a track record of tremendous achievement, a vision for the future of intercollegiate athletics, and a passion for helping student-athletes thrive in competition, the classroom and their communities.
Phillips has guided the ACC to becoming a national conference that spans coast to coast. With this summer’s addition of the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Stanford University, the ACC has a presence in each of the country’s five most-populated states, and its footprint includes four of the 10 largest media markets.
Under Phillips’ leadership, the ACC moved its headquarters in the fall of 2023 to Uptown Charlotte as part of Legacy Union’s Bank of America Tower – mere blocks away from the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte FC, Charlotte Knights, and Charlotte Hornets. In alignment with the conference office relocation and following an eight-month strategic and comprehensive process, the ACC launched ACCOMPLISH GREATNESS, a multi-part brand campaign highlighting the vast success of the ACC’s athletics and academics.
That balance of academic and athletic excellence continues to be a top priority for the ACC. Since the 2021-22 academic year, the ACC has won 23 team national championships, more than any other conference. Academically, the league’s unique blend of public and private institutions continues to lead the way among Football Bowl Subdivision conferences in the “Best Colleges” rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. The ACC has led in the best average rank of its collective institutions in each of the last 18 years. In the 2025 rankings, the Conference leads all FBS conferences with two ACC schools rank in the top 10, four in the top 20, six in the top 20 and 14 in the top 70.
Phillips is renowned as one of the leading voices across the college sports landscape and his inclusion on national boards and committees is beyond significant. He was elected as the inaugural chair of the NCAA Division I Council in February 2015 when he served as the first-ever sitting Athletic Director on the NCAA Board of Directors and Board of Governors. Phillips was selected to serve on the 28-member NCAA Constitution Review Committee, followed by an appointment to the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee - the only Autonomy 5 commissioner to serve on both. In March 2017, he was appointed to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and also served as a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee.
In addition to being a member of the NCAA Board of Governors, current appointments include multiple College Football Playoff committees and Vice President of the Collegiate Commissioners Association – a role he will serve until becoming President beginning with the 2025-26 academic year.
In addition to his overall Board of Governors service, he will serve as chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. Overall, six members from the NCAA Board of Governors make up the Executive Committee. The composition includes four voting members (chair and vice-chair of the Board of Governors, a voting member from the division not represented by the chair and vice chair, and an independent member) and two ex-officio, nonvoting members (chair of the Board of Governors Finance and Audit Committee and the NCAA president). The purpose of the Board of Governors Executive Committee is to promote and maintain a more effective and efficient governance process.
