Statement on Athletic Director Search — April 26, 2018

In a message to the campus leadership today, President Wallace D. Loh said:

Dear colleagues,

The University of Maryland is ​launching​ a national and confidential search for the new Athletic Director.

​A national search​ means that we ​seek and consider all ​qualified candidates. ​A confidential search​ means that​ we secure the privacy of all candidates. The only candidate who will be identified ​publicly is the one ​named​ as the new Athletic Director. ​

The search committee:

• ​Darryll Pines, committee chair; Dean of the A. J. Clark School of Engineering and Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering
• Mark Butler, ​UMD Foundation Board​ trustee​; ​Chairman and CEO, Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Harrisburg, PA
• Michele Eastman, Assistant President and Chief of Staff
• Barry Gossett, Vice Chair, USM Board of Regents​; chairman, New Acton Mobile Industries​
• ​Nicholas Hadley, Faculty Athletic Representative​; ​Professor of Physics
• Cheryl Harrison, Director of Development, ​Maryland ​Athletics
• Missy Meharg, Head Coach, field hockey
• Andrew Valmon, Head Coach, track and field

​After interviewing national search firms, we selected ​Turnkey Search. In recent years, Turnkey helped recruit new Athletic Directors for ​the ​University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Georgia Tech, University of Alabama, University of Tennessee, Georgetown University, and Bowling Green State University.

The ​Turnkey ​consultants ​who will assist us in ​our ​search​ are:

• Len Perna, Esq., Founder and CEO of ​Turnkey​​. He ​has ​overseen​ the successful completion of 500 executive-level searches in professional sports.
• Gene DeFilippo, ​Managing Director of Turnkey. He served as Athletics Director at Boston College, Villanova, and University of South Carolina-Upstate​. He brings ​39 years of experience in intercollegiate athletic administration and higher education.

​They have extensive relationships with athletics administrators ​from ​across the country. They will ensure a confidential and secure application process​, ​as well as arrange all candidate interviews. ​

The consultants will meet ​with members of various internal and external stakeholder​ groups​, including University shared governance bodies, athletics coaches and staff, student-athletes, academic and administrative leaders, and friends and supporters of Maryland Athletics.

​Their goal is to ​gather input​​ on the desired ​candidate profile for ​the next ​​UMD Athletic Director​. ​This​ information will​ ​help them ​develop ​the job description and identify and ​recruit ​the best-fit candidates for the position. All ​inquiries and communications regarding UMD's search will be managed by Turnkey.

I anticipate​, as do ​the consultants, that the ​UMD ​Athletic ​Director position ​will attract strong candidates​ from throughout the nation.

​Our University's membership in the ​select Association of American Universities​; our location near Washington, D.C. and Baltimore; our membership in the Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Academic Alliance; the excellence and dedication of our coaches and athletics staff; the storied ​history of​ Maryland Athletics; the new indoor practice facility and the planned clinical and research facilities for sports medicine, health, and human performance in ​the new ​Cole Field House; the new Barry and Mary Gossett Center for Academic and Personal Excellence of student-athletes; the upcoming ​University​-wide Fearless Ideas capital campaign, with high goals for Maryland Athletics — these are​ the kinds ​of the opportunities that will attract candidates with ​the ethical values, the commitment to student-athletes' welfare,​ the administrative experience, ​the leadership​ and interpersonal skills, ​and the ​​energy, ​vision, and passion to lead our athletics program to new levels of success and impact.

​​Maryland ​Athletics is the "front porch" of ​our University. ​As President, my responsibility is to appoint an Athletics Director ​who will be​ the best fit for the University of Maryland, informed by the input of all key stakeholders; then, be a strong partner of the Athletics Director in the years ahead to realize the highest expectations ​we all share ​for Maryland Athletics.

Thank you for your​ support of Maryland Athletics. ​

Sincerely,

Wallace D. Loh

President, University of Maryland