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Kathy Babiak
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Kathy Babiak, PhD

  • Professor, Sport Management
  • Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs
  • Director, Michigan Center for Sport & Social Responsibility
  • Graduate Faculty, Sport Management

About

Dr. Kathy Babiak is a professor of Sport Management and director of the Michigan Center for Sport & Social Responsibility at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. She serves as associate dean for faculty affairs. Additionally, she was a co-founder of the Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy (SHARP) Center for Women and Girls. Dr. Babiak completed her PhD in Leisure and Sport Management at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Babiak has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE). She is associate editor for the European Sport Management Quarterly, and on the editorial board of numerous sport management journals. Dr. Babiak is a member of several professional organizations, including the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), and is a faculty affiliate for U-M's Center for Entrepreneurship and Center for Social Impact. She has been invited to speak about sport management and social responsibility as a keynote at numerous international events and conferences. Her article "More Than Just a Game? Corporate Responsibility and Super Bowl XL" was named one of Sport Marketing Quarterly's "Top 20 Articles in 20 Years." Dr. Babiak is a NASSM Research Fellow, and she was the recipient of 2017-18 Kinesiology Student’s Choice Award for Teaching Excellence.

Dr. Babiak has received more than one million dollars in grant funding from organizations such as the Women's Sport Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her main line of research focuses on sport and social impact. In this area, she explores how organizations devise social responsibility strategies to maximize the value and benefit to both organizations and to society.

Dr. Babiak's most recent research explores the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of professional sport organizations (NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL) to better understand how teams and leagues benefit from these CSR activities, why sport organizations choose to ally themselves with particular causes (such as the NFL’s efforts around physical activity, or Premier League teams’ emphasis on mental health), and what is the social impact of these efforts.

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  • Michigan Research Expert Profile

Areas of Interest

Sport and social impact, corporate social responsibility, organizational theory, interorganizational relationships, strategic alliances.

Contact

Address

SKB 3230

830 North University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048
United States

Phone

(734) 763-6922

Email

[email protected]

Classes

Course Course Title Credits Term
KINESLGY 685 Res Rotation in Kin 3 - 6 Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
SM 430 SocEnt&Nonprofit Mgt 3 As Arranged, Winter
SM 432 Hum Res Mang in Spt 3 Winter, Spring
SM 514 Strat Mngmt in Sport 3 Winter, Fall

News

Building a Strong Foundation -- 2018
February 8, 2018
Athletes and Activism: Michigan professor will speak to University on activism in pro sports
October 25, 2017
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School of Kinesiology
830 N. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048
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