UA Presents Executive of the Year Award to San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer

TUCSON,  Ariz. – April 2, 2013 – Larry Baer, president and CEO of the San Francisco  Giants, will be recognized as the 2013 University of Arizona Executive of the  Year on Friday, April 19, at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa (3800 East  Sunrise Drive, Tucson).

“It’s  our pleasure to honor Larry — not only because of the success he and his team  at the San Francisco Giants have had on and off the field, but also because  Larry is an exceptional, giving person who devotes much of his life to helping  others,” said Len Jessup, dean of the Eller College of Management. “He has  graciously taken a lot of time out of his schedule to offer his sage advice  here in Tucson and in San Francisco with students in Eller’s growing,  successful Sports Management Program.”

A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Baer has a national reputation  as a visionary in professional sports. A limited partner of the Giants’  ownership group, he was named team president October 1, 2008 and CEO on January  1, 2012. In his first year as president and CEO, the Giants won their second  World Series Championship in three years and extended the team’s home sellout  streak to 165 regular season games by drawing over three million fans.

His initial tenure with the Giants began in 1980, when he joined  the club as marketing director after earning Phi Beta Kappa honors at the  University of California. In 1983, he left the Giants to attend Harvard  Business School, fol­lowed by four years at Westinghouse Broadcasting in San  Francisco and New York. He finally returned to the Giants in December 1992 from  CBS, Inc. in New York. Beginning in December 1992, he served as executive vice  president and was named chief operating officer of the franchise in May 1996.  That same year, he was named president of the China Basin Ballpark Corporation  (CBBC), a private entity formed by Giants investors to finance and build the  new ballpark, which opened in April 2000.

The  University of Arizona Executive of the Year program was established by the  Eller College National Board of Advisors in 1983 to honor individuals who  exemplify executive qualities in private enterprise and public service. Recent  honorees include former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2012) and  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (2011).

Tickets  are $80 per person or $800 for a table of ten. Registration is at eller.arizona.edu/eoy.