The following message was sent to the Rice community in an email July 10:
Dear Rice community,
I am excited to inform you that a search firm has been selected and the search committee has been named for the recruiting effort for the next Director of Athletics at Rice.
As you know, Rice is a proud member of the American Athletics Conference as of July 1. The move provides exciting opportunities and vast potential for growth for Owl sports and our amazing student athletes. To celebrate this new era, Rice Athletics’ Ascend Together Campaign has launched and invites you to be part of this thrilling journey.
At this pivotal moment, we seek a transformational leader to partner with university leadership in efforts to elevate the university brand, the on-campus experience of all Rice community members and the engagement of the university’s spirited alumni base through the advancement of its intercollegiate athletics enterprise.
My sincere gratitude again to Joe Karlgaard, who served as director of athletics for the past 10 years and will be leaving the university at the end of the month.
Parker Executive Search, one of the country's premier executive search firms, will lead the search for this position. The firm has more than three decades of experience in recruiting for top intercollegiate athletics programs and sports businesses, leading colleges and universities, and Fortune 500 companies.
The search committee selected to aid Parker Executive Search in its work is as follows:
• Chair, Reginald DesRoches, President
• Elle Anderson ‘01, Board of Trustees member
• Leo Costello, Associate Professor of Art History and Faculty Athletics
Representative
• Robert T. Ladd ‘78, Chair of the Board of Trustees
• Brian Patterson ‘84, Board of Trustees member
You can access the detailed job description and submit nominations at https://www.parkersearch.com/current-opportunities/rice-university/vice-president-and-director-athletics . If you have questions about the search process, nominations for the position or suggestions, please reach out to DeLaina Sarden, principal at Parker Executive Search, at dsarden@parkersearch.com.
Regards, and Go Owls!
President Reginald DesRoches