Last modified: Thursday, September 2, 2004
IU President Adam W. Herbert's comments on Rick Greenspan
Editors: Here is full text of comments made by Indiana University President Adam W. Herbert at a press conference announcing IU's new athletics director today (Sept. 2).
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us on this very important and exciting day for Indiana University. Two years ago, Vice President Terry Clapacs was asked to take on additional responsibilities during a period of considerable institutional need. In addition to serving as Vice President of Administration, he also was asked to assume the leadership of intercollegiate athletics at IU until the new president could conduct a search to fill the position on a permanent basis.
I am very pleased to tell you that Terry responded to this challenge by fulfilling his vice presidential duties while simultaneously leading the athletics department through a very difficult and challenging period. It is now a much stronger, more united unit because of his stewardship. Terry, thank you for providing stability to the athletics department while maintaining your vast responsibilities on the other side of the campus as well. Indiana University owes you a great debt of gratitude.
In May of this year, I asked Ken Beckley, the president of the IU Alumni Association to chair a search committee to assist me in identifying a new director of intercollegiate athletics at Indiana University. The committee, which included all of the major institutional constituencies, held its first meeting on June 3, 2004.
At that time we identified the essential characteristics we sought in this important role. The most important of those characteristics were:
- Genuine commitment to academic and intercollegiate athletic excellence.
- Ability to ensure strict compliance with rules, regulations and laws governing intercollegiate athletics.
- Significant experience in fiscal planning and budgetary management.
- Outstanding communication and management skills.
- Demonstrated understanding of marketing and development for a complex organization.
- Demonstrated executive leadership, preferably in an athletics-related area.
- An understanding and appreciation of the role of intercollegiate athletics within a leading, public research university.
I stated then that this search presents a unique opportunity to shape the future of Indiana University Athletics. It also provides an opportunity to demonstrate that our athletics program will reflect this institution's high expectations -- excellence in athletic competition and in the classroom.
The search committee has successfully responded to the challenge it was given. I would like to thank Ken Beckley for his efforts in leading the search committee. He has done an OUTSTANDING JOB and all of the committee members have expressed their admiration of his efforts.
I also would like to thank the faculty members, coach, student, administrators and alumni who served on the committee and contributed considerable time and energies to the search process. They have served this university with great dedication and we owe them our deep gratitude.
This search has ended as it began with a commitment to finding a director of great accomplishment and strong leadership skills, whose integrity and character are of the highest order. I am very pleased to announce this morning that we have completed a successful search for such a person.
We have found a leader who has distinguished himself nationally among his peers. We have found a leader who has a depth and breadth of experience in athletics administration that addresses all of the criteria we sought. We have found a leader who clearly understands the overarching significance of our academic mission and priorities at Indiana University. We have found a leader with more than 25 years of administrative and managerial experience in intercollegiate athletics, with extensive experience in directing two major athletic programs and who has earned the respect of his peers in the Pac-10, Big East, Missouri Valley and Patriot League conferences.
I am pleased to announce that Rick Greenspan, who has been director of intercollegiate athletics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since 1999, will be Indiana University's next athletics director, effective September 15, 2004.
Before introducing this special leader to you, I would like to share with you a few of the impressive comments we heard about him during our due diligence process. Brigadier General Dan Kaufman, dean of the academic board and chairman of the Athletic Committee at West Point, said of the man we will introduce today:
"He saved the Army athletic program. We hired Rick for a particular reason and that reason was to turn around a program that was broken, both financially and spiritually ... In Rick Greenspan, we were able to recruit a professional who has restored our facilities and our spirit in a remarkable way."
Kevin Stallings, now the head basketball coach at Vanderbilt University, who was with Rick at Illinois State, told us that he was the finest university athletic administrator he had ever worked with. He said of Rick, "He brings about positive change, builds great loyalty and camaraderie among the athletic department staff and has the ability to develop high morale among the staff."
Linda Herman, the interim director of athletics at Illinois State, told us, "He places a strong emphasis on academics, character and discipline and expects his coaches to do the same."
This is the kind of leader we sought to guide the future development of intercollegiate athletics at Indiana University.
At West Point, Rick has guided a resurgent sports program that has prospered on the field, in the classroom and on the financial spreadsheets. He developed an athletic master plan that led to improved and needed facilities that were largely developed through private support. He has created excitement for athletics through creative and profitable broadcasting and marketing efforts. He has served as a member of the NCAA Management Council, as a peer reviewer for intercollegiate athletic certification programs and as chairman of the Patriot League's athletic directors.
Before going to West Point, Rick was the athletics director at Illinois State University, which also surged to success under his direction. Five times during his tenure, Illinois State's program captured the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Sports Award for overall excellence. He also has held senior athletics leadership positions at the University of California, Berkeley and at the University of Miami in Florida.
Rick's selection comes after an extensive search, which included almost 100 applicants. Our due-diligence efforts included scores of conversations with other athletics directors, university administrators, faculty leaders, conference officials and both coaches and staff who have worked with him in the past.
We heard nothing but positive comments about his high ethical standards, his philosophy, values, his administrative style and his leadership abilities. It is now my pleasure to introduce the next Indiana University athletics director -- Rick Greenspan. Accompanying Rick today are his wife Jenny and their two children, Emily and Ben.
