Bobby Thomas joins the SIUE Athletics Department as a marketing and sales associate. He will focus on corporate sales for SIUE Athletics event as well as The Jazz Station WSIE FM 88.7. Thomas previously worked for the Missouri Valley Conference as the Director of Operations. He developed and executed operational plans for Conference and NCAA championships, including the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Division I Midwest Regional and 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Division I Final Four. In addition, he worked with the Commissioner on developing the 2009-2010 men's basketball conference schedule. While completing his master's degree at SIUE, Thomas worked as an athletic department graduate assistant at SIUE. Working with the sports information director, he assisted with all facets of the SIUE athletic communications operation as the department began reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I. He was assigned to the associate director of athletics to develop and enforce department policies. Prior to entering the sports industry, he held various sales and business development positions in the corporate world. Thomas earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Washington in 2005 and a master's in education from SIUE in 2008.