A national leader among Directors of Athletics who has Southeastern Conference experience and Texas ties, Eric Hyman was named the Texas A&M Director of Athletics by University President Dr. R. Bowen Loftin on June 30, 2012. Texas A&M officially joined the Southeastern Conference on July 1.

Hyman comes to Aggieland from the University of South Carolina where he served the past seven years helping to lead the Gamecocks to being a nationally prominent program that included their first national championships with back-to-back titles in baseball (2010 & 2011). A skilled administrator who has overseen outstanding academic success in his programs, Hyman had the SEC’s 2012 H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar Athlete of the Year in Gamecock pitcher Michael Roth.

Hyman has developed an outstanding reputation as a leader among his peers. He was named the 2003-04 Street and Smith’s Business Journal National Athletics Director of the Year and was also selected as the Division I-A West Regional Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

In September 2008, he assumed the duties as President of the Division 1A Athletic Directors’ Association. More recently, he was named to the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee and was selected as the 2010-11 Under Armour Southeast Region Athletics Director of the Year by NACDA.

Hyman has been a featured speaker at numerous conventions, including the NCAA Champions Forum, to speak on diversity issues in athletics; and the American Football Coaches’ Association, to guide aspiring assistant coaches on how to become a head coach. He is also a regular presenter at the Division I-A Athletic Directors Institute.

During the 2011-12 academic year, the football team set a school record for most wins in a season with 11; the women’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16; the women’s soccer team was crowned SEC regular season champions; the women’s golf team captured the East Regional title and finished fifth at the NCAA Championships; and the baseball team was the national runner-up at the College World Series. In addition, both men and women’s soccer, tennis, golf, and track and field advanced to the postseason. Since January 2010, Carolina has posted wins over eight top-ranked teams in four sports: Alabama in football, Kentucky in men’s basketball, Arizona State, Florida, Vanderbilt and Virginia in baseball and Georgia and Auburn in equestrian.

His hiring of successful head coaches, the development of a $200 million master plan of facilities, and the school’s first athletics capital campaign have taken South Carolina Athletics to new heights. Hyman has successfully guided the department through a football seat donation initiative, which, along with philanthropic gifts and money guaranteed through the television agreement, has provided the financial resources to place Gamecock facilities equal to and above the standards of their SEC rivals.

Under Hyman’s tenure, the Carolina Stadium state-of-the-art baseball facility opened in the spring of 2009; the Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center opened in February 2010; followed closely by an adjacent parking garage and tennis center. The Rice Athletics Center coaches’ support building opened in June 2012. In addition, the athletic training room, locker room, coaches’ locker room, players’ lounge and entryway at Williams-Brice Stadium have all received major upgrades. Men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms have been renovated along with the coaches’ offices. Major suite renovations took place at Williams-Brice following the successful addition of the Champion Club suites. Upon Hyman’s arrival the stadium was dressed up with graphics and recognition of record-holding players. In addition, 2012 has seen the Farmers’ Market converted into a football parking lot and tailgate area for the fans, while a new state-of-the-art video board has been added to enhance the stadium’s atmosphere. Renovations are also underway at the softball and track facilities.

Off the field, South Carolina student-athletes combined to surpass the 3.0 grade point average plateau for 11 consecutive semesters and are regularly among the leaders in the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Gamecock student-athletes concluded the 2011-12 academic year posting their highest departmental grade point average to date. The GPA for the fall semester (3.202) was the highest ever and the GPA for the spring semester (3.196) was the second highest. In addition, South Carolina’s APR scores have continually improved under Hyman’s watch, with all 19 of the university’s countable sports posting a multi-year score of 950 or better in the latest report.

Hyman came to South Carolina from TCU, where he served as the athletics director from 1998-2005. Under his direction, TCU reached new heights across the board, from number of conference wins, NCAA tournament appearances, bowl appearances, national rankings and academic success to having a Heisman Trophy finalist, LaDainian Tomlinson. As TCU’s athletics director, Hyman worked diligently to improve athletic facilities. He directed a three-phase building plan that completely renovated the athletic department’s facilities and provided the foundation for the recent Frogs’ successes.

Prior to his stint in Fort Worth, Hyman was the Athletics Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and VMI in Lexington, Va. He also served as Executive Associate Athletics Director at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., and Associate Athletics Director at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. Prior to becoming an administrator, he coached football at Furman University for nine years under Art Baker and Dick Sheridan.

Hyman graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was an all-ACC football player, on the Dean’s list and selected for the Hula Bowl. He signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Hyman earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Furman in 1975. He and his wife, Pauline, together coached the women’s basketball team at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., leading the team to national rankings in the 1970s.

Pauline is a native of North Carolina and also has her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did some post-graduate work at South Carolina in the early 1980s. Pauline played women’s college basketball, taught sociology and psychology and served as a college administrator. She also developed and taught the NCAA Life Skills course and various seminars for student-athletes at both Miami University and TCU. Since coming to South Carolina, she has taught the Etiquette Seminar in the Gamecocks’ Life Skills course and assists with other seminars in preparing the student-athletes for their futures, such as the Dress for Success and Networking and Interviewing seminars.

Eric and his wife, Pauline, have a daughter and son-in-law, Corrine and Michael Quast (A & M, 2004). who are expecting the Hyman's second grandchild in July. They have a son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Carolyn Hyman and an infant grandaughter, Stella Hyman.