Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A 13-person committee soon will undertake the search for Mississippi State's next athletic director.
Led by Vice President Vance H. Watson, the broad-based committee will take on a task President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong earlier termed "of great importance to the university." Watson is the veteran MSU administrator who leads the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.
"Our goal is to have a successful candidate in place by July 1, 2008," Foglesong said Friday [Aug. 10].
Included among the dozen that will assist Watson are a student-athlete and a varsity coach, along with alumni and supporters of the land-grant institution and leaders of campus student, staff and faculty organizations.
Foglesong said he has charged the committee with conducting an aggressive national search and presenting a list of acceptable candidates.
"The athletic director of the future must be committed to success in athletic competition, to compliance with NCAA and SEC rules and regulations, and to the academic success of our student athletes," he said.
"The person selected also must be able to effectively rally the support of alumni and friends, promote and market our athletic programs, recruit and lead a diverse professional staff, and, most importantly, manage large and complex budgets and extensive facilities," he added.
Those named include (in alphabetical order):
--Gary Blair of Brookhaven, former national president of the MSU Alumni Association and senior vice president with the Land Bank of South Mississippi;
--Ann Carr, associate athletic director for general administration;
--Ruben Doty of Saltillo, a 1991 industrial engineering graduate and former MSU cross-country runner who now owns Preferred Plumbing in Tupelo;
--Bryce Griffis of Starkville, an MSU Foundation director and president of Sturgis Timber Co.;
--Senior Hayle Guess of Moss Point, a physical education major and outfielder with MSU's softball team;
--Senior Jeremy Johnson of Vicksburg, a chemical engineering major and current Student Association president;
--JR Love of Starkville, last year's SA president [Ed. Note: JR is his preferred spelling.];
--Joy Odom, president of the campus Professional and Support Staff Advisory Council;
--Allison Pearson, professor of management and information systems and a John Grisham Master Teacher;
--Al Schmidt, head track coach;
--Leo W. Seal Jr. of Gulfport, MSU Foundation director and president of the Hancock Holding Co.; and
--Robert Wolverton Sr., foreign languages professor and president of the Robert Holland Faculty Senate.
"Since we launched a public Web site about the search several weeks ago, we've had uniformly positive comments and feedback," said Watson.
"We're accustomed to working within the structure of a search process at Mississippi State, and we're confident the committee will work together to identify strong candidates we can send forward to the president," he added.