The University of Akron has selected five candidates to bring to campus
to interview for
the position of Athletic Director. Each of the
finalists will visit campus in the next several weeks.
The candidates are Dr. Eve Atkinson, athletic
director at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.; Gregory
S. Burke, athletic director at Northwestern
State University in Natchitoches, La.; James E. Harris,
athletic director at the University of Alabama
at Huntsville; Steven C. Moniaci, associate athletic
director at Rice University in Houston; and
Michael J. Thomas, associate athletic director at the
University of Virginia at Charlottesville.
More than 80 people applied for the position,
including current ADs, assistant ADs, as well as
coaches, players and administrators in
professional sports, says Richard L. Aynes, dean of the
University's School of Law and head of the
search committee.
"This was a very strong pool of candidates. The
choices the committee had to make were difficult
because we had so many outstanding candidates
from which to choose," Aynes says.
Eve Atkinson has served as director of athletics
at Lafayette College, a NCAA Division I member
with I-AA football, for 10 years. Prior to
Lafayette, she served for six years as associate AD at
Temple University. With more than 25 years in
athletic administration, Atkinson was the first
woman in the nation appointed as an NCAA
Division I director of athletics for men's and women's
programs with Division I-AA football.
Gregory S. Burke has served as athletic director
at Northwestern State since 1996. Burke
previously held two posts within the Zip
athletic program, serving as a development officer for
athletics from 1992-95 and as director of
athletic development/marketing from 1995-96. In his
current post at Northwestern, Burke oversees a
Division I program with 14 sports and an annual
budget of more than $3 million.
James Harris is in his sixth year as director of
athletics at Alabama (Huntsville), which competes in
Division I in men's hockey and offers 11 sports
that compete at the Division II level. He
previously worked at Rice University, as well as
Ohio State, Utah State and Bowling Green State
University. Under Harris, the Huntsville program
has added baseball and softball, captured two
Division II national championships in hockey,
and placed several teams in NCAA post-season
competition.
Steve Moniaci has served as associate AD at Rice
University since 1997 after joining the Rice
athletic department in 1980. He currently is
responsible for fundraising, promotions, marketing
and sports information. He previously held
responsibility for departmental operations, including
game management, transportation and the
direction of championship and special events.
Michael J. Thomas has been associate director of
athletics at Virginia since 1993. Before joining
Virginia, Thomas was assistant director of
athletics at the University of Denver, and served at the
University of Iowa. At Virginia, Thomas
supervises eight varsity programs. He is responsible for
all Virginia athletic facilities and serves as a
liaison to several departments dealing with
student-athlete issues.