Kansas University’s committee to find a successor for athletics director Bob Frederick met for the first time on Friday morning.
“I’m pleased we had so many people here what with everything going on on campus,” said Reggie Robinson, counselor to the chancellor and committee chair.
See the 6Sports report on the meet.
Only one of the 15 members Lawrence businessman Laird Noller was absent. Noller was out of town.
Robinson also reported that former Kansas University running back Gale Sayers, a member of the KU Athletics Corp. board, had been added to the committee.
“I’m thrilled to have Gale with us because of his experience as a student-athlete and as an administrator,” Robinson said.
Sayers, an All-American running back for the Jayhawks in the mid-60s, was athletics director at Southern Illinois before going into the computer software business in the Chicago area.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway spoke to the group Friday, explaining how the search process would work and what he hoped would be accomplished.
The committee’s first real business session will be next Thursday afternoon, when members hear from representatives of Heidrick and Struggles Inc, an international head-hunting firm hired by Hemenway to identify candidates to replace Frederick, who resigned early this month after 14 years on the job.
“We realize that next week we’ll have a real opportunity to put dates on the phases of the search,” Robinson said.
Robinson has no timetable for submitting names to the chancellor.
“We’re not going to take it slow,” he said. “We want to be thorough, but we want to move quickly. Summer is our target to get it done.”
Although Frederick’s last official day is June 30, Hemenway is considering naming an interim.
“I have heard some talk about that,” said Doug Vance, associate AD for media relations. “The chancellor will address it at the time if he believes it’s necessary.”
Frederick, 61, will begin teaching in the KU school of education this fall. Hemenway said Frederick would be given a five-year contract, but terms have not been disclosed. Frederick did not have a contract while he was AD.
