General information
Location: Miami, Fla.
Opened: 1972
Enrollment: 48,000
Nickname: Panthers
President: Mark B. Rosenberg
Athletics Director: Pete Garcia
Football Facility: FIU Stadium (20,000)
Basketball Facility: U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000)
Media Market: No. 16 Miami-Fort Lauderdale (1,583,800 TV households)
Sponsored Sports: 18
Men (7) — baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, indoor & outdoor track & field
Women (11) — basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, indoor & outdoor track & field, sand volleyball, volleyball
On the Web
University: fiu.edu
Athletics: FIUSports.com
Facebook: FIUSports
Twitter: @FIUAthletics
Prominent facts
· With a student body of nearly 48,000, Florida International is one of the 25 largest public universities in the nation. It is Miami’s first and only four-year public research university.
· The school has more than 160,000 alumni and more than 110,000 live and work in South Florida.
· More than 180 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs are offered in such fields as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine.
· In 2011, 89.6 percent of FIU College of Law graduates passed the Florida Bar Exam, marking the highest passage rate of any college in Florida. It was nearly 10 percent better than the state-wide average.
· FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes that compete in 18 varsity sports, including seven men’s and 11 women’s programs.
· FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay campuses are home to seven of the finest collegiate athletics venues in the state. FIU boasts its own on-campus football stadium, Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium, which was renovated in 2008 and expanded to 20,000 seats in 2012. U.S. Century Bank Arena, home to FIU men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, also has become a model facility in the city of Miami and it annually hosts commencement, athletics and premium entertainment events. In January 2013, FIU finished an 11,000-square foot addition to the arena, which included a suites level, picturesque grand entrance and several other new amenities.
· Since moving to Division I, FIU Athletics teams boast 42 NCAA Tournament appearances and 102 All-Americans.
· The football program earned back-to-back bowl bids to the 2010 Little Caesars Bowl and 2011 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl. The Panthers won the 2010 Sun Belt Championship followed by a bowl victory against Mid-American Conference Champion Toledo in its first-ever postseason appearance.
· The men’s soccer team has been an affiliate member of Conference USA since 2005 and it has advanced to the finals of the 2007 Championship. Men’s soccer head coach Kenny Arena inherited a program that has long been a champion on the FIU campus, from its earliest days winning the NCAA Division II National Championship (1982 & '84), and into the Division I era where it boasts eight NCAA postseason tournament berths.
· The baseball program has been to 10 NCAA Tournament Regionals since 1991.
· Under the direction of Cindy Russo, women’s basketball has advanced to 11 NCAA postseason tournaments and she has coached seven players that have played professionally in the WNBA, ABL and USBL. Russo returns the NCAA scoring leader in senior Jerica Coley, who averaged 26.3 ppg in 2012-13.
Notable alumni
· Omar Baez Jr. — Launch director, NASA Launch Services Program at John F. Kennedy Space Center
· Antwan Barnes — National Football League linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and New York Jets
· Dr. Stephanie Burns — President & CEO, Dow Corning
· Andy Garcia — Academy Award-nominated actor
· Adolfo Henriques — Chairman/CEO, Union Planters Bank of Florida
· Kimberly Leemans — America’s Next Top Model contestant
· Dennis Lehane — Author, Mystic River
· Mike Lowell — Former Major League Baseball third baseman for the New York Yankees, Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox
· Kev Marcus — Hip-hop, jazz and classical violinist
· Dawn Ostroff — President of Entertainment, CW Network
· Danny Piño — Actor, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Cold Case
· Regynald Washington — Vice President & General Manager, Disney Regional Entertainment/ESPN Zone