The NCAA said Thursday it has chosen Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker as its next president, the organization announced on Thursday.

Baker will start in the position in March, two months after his second term as governor ends on Jan. 5. He will succeed Mark Emmert, who has held the role since 2010.

Baker’s background in government made him a top choice for the NCAA, which has confronted a variety of national legal and regulatory controversies in recent years. The organization was embroiled in a Supreme Court case last year over student-athlete compensation.

“Throughout the search process, Governor Baker’s history of successfully forging bipartisan solutions to complex problems stood out to the search committee as uniquely suited to the NCAA’s present needs,” the NCAA wrote in a Thursday press release.

Emmert will continue consulting for the NCAA until June 2023.

Baker, a two-term Republican in a predominantly Democratic state, is the first NCAA president without a professional background at higher education institutions or college sports. He did, however, play varsity basketball at Harvard.

Before serving two terms as governor in Massachusetts, Baker held executive positions at a health care company and was CEO of nonprofit Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.