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University of Iowa creates search committee, hires search firm to find permanent AD
Beth Goetz has been ‘unbelievable team builder’ as Iowa’s interim AD
IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa has taken the first steps toward conducting an outside search for its next permanent athletics director, establishing a search committee and hiring a search firm.
The formation of a committee is not a surprise after the UI said in June a national search was “planned for sometime in early 2024.”
TurnkeyZRG, the search firm Iowa will “partner” with, is the same company that worked on the searches for the NCAA president, ACC commissioner, Big 12 commissioner and several other high-profile positions in collegiate athletics.
Beth Goetz was named the interim athletics director this summer following Gary Barta’s retirement, and the longtime collegiate sports administrator has earned rave reviews since then.
“Every coach is behind her 100 percent,” head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder said at the Big Ten’s basketball media days. “She is an unbelievable team builder. She’s a great leader. … I just think if we don’t hire her, that would be really, really not a smart thing to do."
UI President Barbara Wilson told Iowa’s Presidential Committee on Athletics in August that Goetz has been “fabulous.”
“She’s hit the ground running as interim AD,” Wilson said. “I can tell you she hasn’t missed a beat. We're in regular communication about a lot of things.”
Wilson told the Daily Iowan earlier this year she “very much hopes” Goetz applies for the permanent position.
Several others outside the Iowa community have advocated publicly for Goetz to receive the permanent position, including Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens and legendary UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
It is unclear what the timeline is for a decision. Nicole Grosland, the College of Engineering’s associate dean for academic programs, will chair the committee.
The others on the committee are:
- P. Sue Beckwith, an alum and major donor
- Josie Durr, a soccer athlete
- Rick Heller, the head baseball coach
- Terry Johnson, the UI’s chief financial officer and treasurer
- Jamie Jorgensen, the UI’s vice president for legal affairs and general counsel
- Lynette Marshall, the president and CEO of the UI Center for Advancement
- Jess Rickertsen, the assistant athletics director for ticket operations
- James Torner, an epidemiology professor and chair of the Presidential Committee on Athletics
- Liz Tovar, the senior associate athletics director for student-athlete academic services
The university’s equal-opportunity policies require an open search for most positions although the UI sometimes will use search waivers to bypass a formal search.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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