Statement on Athletic Director Search — April 26, 2018
Jessica Jennings , 301-314-1482 jjenn@umd.edu
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
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