May 27, 2010
When the NCAA Executive Committee announced that Mark Emmert would become the organization’s president-elect last April the news was met with wide-spread approval, including many affirmative nods from Southeastern Conference administrators.
Although the 57-year old was the president of the University of Washington, Emmert had previously served as chancellor at Louisiana State University and the University of Connecticut. During the LSU years of 1999 through 2004, virtually every major SEC official came into contact with him.
That includes Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor David Williams, although Emmert’s indirect ties with Vanderbilt run even deeper.
“I met Mark when he was the chancellor at LSU but early in his career he was a Fellow at the University of Colorado when Gordon Gee was its president,” Williams says.
Emmert made an impression upon Gee and in 1985 he was named Colorado’s associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, a post he held for seven years. As a result, the Gee-Williams-Emmert triangle has had its share of interactions. One of those came when Emmert hired former Vanderbilt Director of Athletics Todd Turner at Washington.
“I think the NCAA is in great hands,” Williams says. “Mark is a good guy and from all I’ve heard, there has been a sigh of relief from athletic administrators around the nation that he will continue in a similar, positive direction as the late Myles Brand.”
Williams says that while any major university presidency or chancellorship is significant, it could be said the scopes of most posts are mostly local or regional. The attraction to the NCAA presidency to some is that its impact is national.
Williams calls Emmert a leading voice in the Southeastern Conference while at LSU and realized he was a major proponent of collegiate athletics. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive feels like-wise.
“President Emmert is an outstanding choice to be the NCAA successor to Dr. Myles Brand,” says Slive. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with him while he was the chancellor at LSU. He played a leadership role in the administration of the conference and at all times he was committed to the welfare of student-athletes and the values of intercollegiate athletics within the mission of higher education. His intellect, energy, experience, passion and commitment will serve us all well. Simply put, President Ray and the Executive Committee have made a terrific choice.”
Lest anyone think that Emmert’s SEC ties will somehow give the conference a future inside track, Williams points out that Emmert also has Pac-10 roots and also has connections through his Connecticut experience with the Big East.
“It is reassuring to realize that Mark’s tenure at LSU gives him great insight into the strengths and the issues in our league,” Williams says. “He brings understanding of several major conferences with him.”