Cleveland, Ohio –The Mid-American Conference recently concluded its 2021 Spring Meetings and following the Council of President’s meeting, several new board appointments were announced.


 
Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns was elected Chair of the Council of Presidents, replacing University at Buffalo President, Dr. Satish Tripathi, who served as Chair for the last four academic years. 
 
Mearns became the 17th president of Ball State University in 2017. Mearns, a former cross country student-athlete, earned his undergraduate degree in English from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. As a freshman at Yale, Mearns broke Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter’s indoor two-mile record with a time of 9:01. After a legal career that included serving as a federal prosecutor, President Mearns held academic and administrative roles at Cleveland State University, and then served as president of Northern Kentucky University. 
 
Mearns was also named the MAC representative to the NCAA Board of Directors, replacing Tripathi, who served this role for the last four academic years. The NCAA Board of Directors is comprised of 24 members: 20 chief executive officers (CEOs), one director of athletics, one senior woman administrator, one faculty athletics representative and one student-athlete. All FBS conferences have a permanent seat. Five FCS and five Division I Subdivision conferences rotate seats.



Central Michigan University President Dr. Robert O. Davies was named the MAC representative to the NCAA Presidential Forum, replacing Mearns, who also served on the NCAA Presidential Forum for one-year. 
 
The Presidential Forum is comprised of one president or chancellor from each of the 32 Division I Conferences. The purpose of the forum is to assist the NCAA Division I Board of Directors in accomplishing its strategic mission in the Division I governance structure and help ensure that the NCAA core value involving presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference and national level is achieved.
 
Davies became the 15th president of Central Michigan in 2018. Prior to his appointment as CMU's president, Davies served as the President at Murray State University in Kentucky (2014-18). Davies earned a B.S. in management from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1991, an M.B.A in finance and marketing from the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005. In addition to his time at Murray State, Davies has served as president of Eastern Oregon University and vice president for university relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also had alumni relations and development positions at The State University of New York at Buffalo, Boise State University, and the University of Nevada, Reno. Davies’ career in higher education also included time on the court with student-athletes. Following work as a referee for high school basketball in the late 1980s, Davies officiated at the collegiate level for nearly a decade in the 1990s, including four years at the Division I level in the Big West conference.
 


Miami University Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator Jennifer Gilbert, was elected Chair of the Council of Senior Administrators, replacing Northern Illinois University Chief of Staff/Senior Woman Administrator Debra Boughton, who served as Chair for the last three academic years.
 
Gilbert is a former volleyball student-athlete and 1988 graduate of Miami University. She has been with Miami the past 13 and a half years in a variety of roles. Currently, she oversees five of Miami’s 18 NCAA-sponsored sports. As Senior Woman Administrator, Gilbert also guides the "Student-Athlete Experience", comprised of career mentoring, community service, the Champions 4 Life Leadership Academy, student-athlete advisory council, code of conduct, awards, recognitions and educational programming, ensuring an equitable experience for all student-athletes.
 
Miami University, Director of Athletics David Sayler, continues as Chair of the Council of Directors of Athletics for his second year of a three-year term.  Additionally, University of Akron, Associate Professor/Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Matt Juravich, will continue to serve as Chair of the Council of Faculty Athletics Representatives for the second year of his three year term.
 
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