Athens, Ga.
– David E. Shipley, a law professor and former dean of the law school, will
succeed UGA Vice President for Instruction Jere W. Morehead as faculty
athletics representative effective July 1, President Michael F. Adams announced
today.Last month, Adams
named Morehead UGA senior vice president for academic affairs and provost
effective Jan. 1.
The faculty athletics
representative, a position required under NCAA bylaws, is responsible for
assuring academic compliance with NCAA regulations and academic success for
student athletes.The post is an ex
officio member of the board of the Georgia Athletic Association, and a voting
representative of the institution at both the Southeastern Conference and the
NCAA.
The position is “the
president’s eyes and ears within the athletics program,” Adams
said in making the appointment.Adams determined that Morehead’s new responsibilities as
the university’s provost would demand his full attention, but that the most
effective and appropriate time to make the transition would be at the end of
the academic and athletic year following the June meeting of the Southeastern
Conference.
Morehead, who has held the
position since 2003, has been “an extremely effective representative for the
academic interests of the university,” Adams
said.“He is widely respected by his
colleagues across the SEC and has not only my confidence but that of SEC
Commissioner Michael Slive.”
Shipley served as dean of the
UGA School of Law from 1998 to 2003, having previously served as law dean at
the universities of Kentucky and Mississippi.He stepped down from the UGA deanship to take
a position on the law faculty.
“I doubt there’s a better
university citizen today than David Shipley,” Adams
said.“Following his successful
five-year service as dean, he has not only pursued teaching and scholarly
productivity with vigor, he has been active on many university committees,
including the curriculum committee of University Council and the current SACS
accreditation committee.He exemplifies
the adage that ‘busy people are effective people,’” Adams
added.“I am confident David will
quickly win the trust of not only our colleagues in athletics but also in the
academic and athletics leadership of the SEC.”
Shipley currently serves on
the UGA Athletic Board and previously served on the University Council’s
Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics.In his own college career, Shipley was a four-year letterman in both
cross country and swimming at Oberlin
College.“My Division III athletic experience is a far
cry from that of the SEC,” Shipley said, “but we took things seriously and that
experience in varsity sports gives me a good appreciation of the demands on our
student-athletes.”
“David Shipley will make an
outstanding Faculty Athletics Representative,” Morehead said.“His legal background is particularly helpful
in evaluating NCAA rules as well as proposed NCAA and SEC legislation.”To facilitate the transition, Shipley will
join Morehead at the winter and spring meetings of the Southeastern Conference
and at the NCAA convention in January.
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