Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University President Ed Ray on Monday named a committee to assist him in a national search to select a new director of intercollegiate athletics. The search process includes noted OSU alumni, national leaders in college sports, a head coach, faculty, students and university leaders.

The search committee will be led by Joey Spatafora, an OSU professor and the university's faculty athletic representative to the PAC-12 conference.

The committee includes Oregon State alumni Marty Reser, vice president of retail sales for Reser's Fine Foods, and John Stirek, regional president of Trammell Crow; OSU women's basketball coach Scott Rueck; Erika Aufiero, an OSU student-athlete competing in gymnastics; Colleen Bee, associate professor in OSU's College of Business, who serves as co-chair of OSU's student athletics advisory committee; Glenn Ford, OSU vice president of finance and administration; Jim Patterson, OSU senior associate athletic director; Taylor Sarman, OSU student body president; and Marianne Vydra, senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator.

OSU will engage national sports management consultants Jeff Schemmel, president of College Sports Solutions; and Kevin Weiberg, former commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, to assist with the search.

The search for a new athletic director began last week after Bob De Carolis announced on May 11 that he would leave Oregon State after serving as director of OSU intercollegiate athletics for nearly 13 years and working in athletics administration at the university for 17 years. The search committee will begin meeting this week, and Ray said he hopes to have a new athletic director named by June 30 when De Carolis departs Oregon State.

"I am very impressed by the number of high-level candidates that are expressing strong interest in working at OSU," Ray said. "Our new athletic director will add to the success of Oregon State's men's and women's athletics and grow fan excitement and engagement. He or she will be committed to our student-athletes and to all OSU students.

"The new director will contribute to the remarkable transformation that is occurring at Oregon State where everything we do is about excellence and leadership."

Ray said the new athletic director will help build on his own personal commitment to high level athletic success at the university. "Oregon State will compete and will win championships. We will win the right way - the Oregon State way," Ray said. "Count on it. You have my word on it."