WVU president and athletic director to lead panel discussion reviewing trends of college athletics

Leading experts in higher education, intercollegiate athletics and the sport management industry, including Shane Lyons, West Virginia University athletic director, and President E. Gordon Gee, West Virginia University, will examine the developments of intercollegiate athletics.

In addition to Lyons and Gee, the panel will include Whit Babcock, Virginia Tech athletic director, President Dan Mahony, Winthrop University, and Rob Mullens, University of Oregon athletic director, on Saturday, April 16, 2016, 7 p.m., Erickson Alumni Center on the WVU campus. Tony Caridi, WVU play-by-play announcer and Voice of the Mountaineers, will serve as panel moderator.

The presentation, titled “Intercollegiate Athletics: Current and Future Directions,” is free and open to the public With the exception of Gee and Caridi, the speakers are alumni of the WVU College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences sport management program. Mullens will participate via a live feed.

“The College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences is honored to host these leaders in intercollegiate athletics and higher education as our featured 2016 Distinguished Lecture Series this spring. As influential decision-makers in athletic administration, this group will appeal to those staff, students and faculty across the University, as well as the public, who are interested in the future of athletics,” explained Dana Brooks, dean and professor, CPASS.

Brief bios:

Whit Babcock – Whit Babcock graduated from James Madison University in 1992 and earned his Masters of Science in Sport Management at West Virginia University in 1996. He served as the executive associate director of athletics at the University of Missouri before being named the director of athletics at the University of Cincinnati. He currently serves as the director of athletics at Virginia Tech.

Tony Caridi – Tony Caridi is a native of Lockport, New York, and graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He is the manager of Pikewood Creative, a visual media design and marketing team and is the sports director at the West Virginia Radio Corporation. Caridi has served as the play-by-play announcer for West Virginia University athletics for 20 years. In addition to his on-air work, Tony oversees the West Virginia MetroNews Internet division.

E. Gordon Gee – Dr. E. Gordon Gee has served as the President of many prestigious universities for more than three decades. In 2014, Gee returned to West Virginia University, where his career as a university president began in 1981. He went on to lead the University of Colorado (1985-1990), Brown University (1998-2000), and Vanderbilt University (2001-2007). He served as president of The Ohio State University from 1990 to 1997 and again from 2007 to 2013. Gee has received a number of honorary degrees, awards, fellowships, and recognitions. He is a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest science organization.

Shane Lyons – Shane Lyons graduated from West Virginia University in 1988 with a Masters of Science in Sport Management. Lyons spent 10 years as the associate commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prior to that he was the associate athletics director at Texas Tech University. He worked for three years with the University of Alabama as the deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer before returning to WVU as the director of intercollegiate athletics and an associate vice president.

Dan Mahony – Don Mahony graduated from West Virginia University in 1990 with a Masters of Science in Sport Management and completed his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1995. He served 13 years at the University of Louisville as an associate and assistant provost and has served as a past president of the North American Society for Sport Management. He worked at Kent State University as dean of College of Education and professor of sport management. He is currently president at Winthrop University.

Rob Mullens – Rob Mullens earned his bachelor’s degree in 1991 in business administration and a Masters of Science in sport management from West Virginia University in 1993. He served as the senior athletics business manager at the University of Miami (Fla.) as well as the executive senior associate director of athletics and chief of staff at the University of Maryland. He was the deputy director of athletics at the University of Kentucky before being named the athletic director of the University of Oregon.

For more information on the event, contact kimberly.cameon@mail.wvu.edu

WVU

3/30/2016

CONTACT: Kimberly Cameon, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences
304.293.0827, Kimberly.Cameon@mail.wvu.edu

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