Burke announcing departure plan
More ($): Circumstance demanded announcement | Who might succeed Burke?
At a lunch event Thursday in Florida, long-time Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke announced long-term plans for the end of his tenure.
In front of a group of donors and supporters at The Mollenkopf/Keyes Classic event in Naples, Fla., the 64-year-old informed attendees of his eventual transition out of the position he's held at Purdue since January 1993, making him one of the longest-tenured athletic directors in America and the dean of Big Ten ADs.
The search for Burke's successor will begin immediately.
News of Burke's plan to move into presumed retirement in July of 2017 is not necessarily unexpected. His contract runs through then and he had indicated little desire to continue on beyond that point, often talking in interviews about being in the "fourth quarter" of his career. Purdue's announcement Thursday said that Burke told university leadership of those plans "more than a year ago."
Chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees Michael Berghoff will lead a search to find a successor. A search committee was appointed by Purdue president Mitch Daniels and includes associate dean in the College of Science and a longtime Faculty Athletic Representative Christie Sahley; 1999 Purdue graduate and current head coach of the Indiana Fever Stephanie White; College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson; NFL veteran Matt Light; Christa Szalach, a junior on Purdue’s soccer team; and senior associate athletics director Nancy Cross.
At the time of the successor's hiring, it is likely that that person will work in concurrence with Burke for a period of time, with the outgoing A.D. maintaining involvement with day-to-day operations of the department and certain projects - notably the coming Football Performance Complex - while the incoming A.D. assumes oversight of, and responsibility for, the struggling football program, likely among other responsibilities.
Much more on this story to come at GoldandBlack.com.
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