FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Chancellor David Gearhart will be the chairman of a search committee for the next commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.
Gearhart will lead a committee of five presidents and chancellors from SEC institutions. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced last week that he will retire next July.
Nicholas S. Zeppos, Vanderbilt University chancellor and chairman of the SEC's Presidents and Chancellors, appointed Gearhart to the position.
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"Finding the right person to carry on the leadership of the Southeastern Conference, an unquestioned leader in intercollegiate athletics, is a major undertaking as the position is vital to the continued positive transformation of the conference and intercollegiate athletics as a whole," Gearhart said in a statement. "I’m honored to have been selected by Chancellor Zeppos to lead this important committee.”
Gearhart will be joined on the selection committee by Judith Bonner, president of the University of Alabama; Eli Capilouto, president of the University of Kentucky; Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University; and R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the University of Missouri.
In a release, Zeppos said the league's presidents and chancellors plan to have the next commissioner chosen in a timely manner before Slive's retirement on July 31.