Shipley to succeed Morehead as UGA faculty athletics representative

October 27, 2009 Writer: Tom Jackson, 706/542-8090, tjackson@uga.edu Contact: David Shipley, 706/542-5184, shipley@uga.edu 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. #