AQ alumnus David Baldwin ‘09, felt right at home in the city of Grand Rapids. Originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Baldwin was recruited to Aquinas to play basketball.

The AQ men’s basketball team competed in the WHAC tournament and won the WHAC championship while Baldwin was at Aquinas. During his second year on the team, he was sidelined by an injury that kept him from playing his junior year. During that time, however, Baldwin started at internship with the Detroit Lions. A sport management and business administration major, Baldwin’s internship helped him gain experience in the sports industry while earning college credit.

While at AQ, Baldwin served as the student director of intramurals for two years alongside men’s basketball coach Dave Hammer. Baldwin credits Coach Hammer with not only helping Baldwin and his teammates mature during their time at Aquinas, but teaching Baldwin about persistence and helping put him in a position to succeed in life.

“Dave Baldwin was one dedicated person to goals and commitment to excellence,” said Hammer. “We at Aquinas College are very fortunate to have a student athlete of his caliber spend three years. Through his career with multiple injuries, Dave stayed true to being the leader and inspiration to the group. He will always have a special place in my heart because of his values. [Dave is a] driven person who will be a great leader in any chosen field of employment.”

Baldwin admired the faculty and staff at Aquinas because they all are individuals with real life experience. Experience goes a long way in the classroom, something that particularly helped Baldwin excel in his studies. He appreciated that many of his faculty weren’t just educators, but had also held high-level positions in well respected companies before coming to be a professor at Aquinas.

Immediately following graduation, Baldwin was offered a job in the NBA. He moved to Atlanta and worked for Atlanta Hawks. While in Atlanta, Baldwin also took a job in the NHL for the Atlanta Thrashers. After two years in Atlanta, where Baldwin grew from an entry-level sales rep to a top-level producer, he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona to work for the Phoenix Suns. With the Suns, Baldwin recruited, trained, and managed an entry-level sales staff of 15.

After two and a half years with the Suns, he took a job in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. In his current role as Senior Director, Membership Development and Group Sales, Baldwin oversees a staff of 40 sales reps and three sales managers.

While Baldwin manages close to $15 million in annual business, he said he gets the most joy and fulfillment from seeing his sales reps grow their careers throughout the sports industry. Under his first year of leadership with the Dolphins, Miami is first in overall annual ticket growth, second in new season tickets and broke the NFL record for most group tickets ever sold.

His days are spent in meetings planning out large scale sales events like an NFL draft party, recruiting top level sales talent, focusing on client data and analytics, and meeting with and training his reps on a daily basis. Baldwin credits his time at Aquinas with teaching him how to multitask. While playing basketball, taking a full credit load of classes, directing intramurals and doing his internship, the experience he gained then has continued to be a valuable asset in his everyday life.

“Because of Aquinas, I have developed lifelong relationships,” Baldwin said. “I am happily married to someone I met at Aquinas, and developed life-long skills.” Overall, Baldwin has fond memories of his time at Aquinas. He misses Grand Rapids - the laid back atmosphere with the big city feel - and is grateful for the many opportunities and internships Aquinas has for its students.