May 15, 2013

Julie Hermann, executive senior associate director of athletics for the University of Louisville (U of L), has been named director of intercollegiate athletics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

"It's a pleasure to welcome Julie Hermann to the Rutgers community," said President Robert L. Barchi. "She is one of the most respected athletics administrators in the country and she was deeply involved in moving Louisville from Conference USA to the Big East and from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Her 15 years of leadership experience will be an invaluable asset to the university as we prepare to enter the Big Ten."

Following a national search, Hermann was selected from a pool of 63 candidates. Her appointment is effective Monday, June 17. She is the first woman to serve in this capacity at Rutgers.

"The search committee was particularly impressed with Julie Hermann's student-centered approach to athletics," said Kate Sweeney, search committee co-chair, senior vice president and certified financial planner with Morgan Stanley in New Brunswick and Rutgers alumna. "She developed Louisville's L-Care program, which encompasses student development, sports medicine, career planning and placement to provide student-athletes every opportunity for success on the field, in the classroom and beyond."

"My colleagues on the search committee and I understood that this was a critical appointment for the university," said Richard L. Edwards, committee co-chair and executive vice president for academic affairs. "Julie Hermann has helped Louisville become a national leader in athletics, while working to provide a quality academic experience for student-athletes."

The Rutgers athletic program has a tradition of academic achievement. The university's teams have been recognized by the NCAA for consistently high performance in the Academic Progress Rate (APR). In 2012, Rutgers was one of only 12 Football Bowl Subdivision programs to be ranked in the top 10 percent in the APR scores.

Hermann is committed to maintaining the high academic standards of Rutgers athletics that allow student-athletes to succeed in the classroom as well as on the field of play and she looks forward to working with all of the members of the Rutgers community to move intercollegiate athletics forward.

"Rutgers is poised to soar," said Hermann. "With a world-class faculty and academic reputation, a strategic location and the power and reach of the Big Ten, the university is positioned to create a best-in-class experience for every student who accepts the challenge to learn and compete at Rutgers."

Hermann served in a supervisory capacity of U of L athletics as the university garnered the 2013 NCAA men's basketball national championship; two BCS Bowl wins and two NCAA women's basketball national championship appearances (2013 and 2009).

She currently supervises 20 sports, including women's basketball, cross-country, track and field, tennis, soccer, softball and volleyball.

Hermann supervises marketing and brand management of U of L athletics, including a marketing plan to sell 12,000 new seats at the expanded Cardinal football stadium and the marketing plans for all NCAA national championships. She has worked tirelessly to cultivate support for the U of L athletic program, directly securing more than $10 million in gift agreements in the last year alone.

Before joining U of L, Hermann served as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball, helping the national team to a silver medal at the World University Games in 1997.

Prior to that she served as head women's volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee for six seasons. Under her watch, the Lady Vols volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade.

Hermann is immediate past president of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators. She is the former chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.

Hermann has served on numerous boards, including the Frazier Rehab Institute, the Louisville Sports Commission and the Kentucky Sports Commission.

Hermann will receive an annual base salary of $450,000. She will be eligible for annual performance bonuses of up to $50,000 based on achievement of academic and athletic performance goals as determined by the president.

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America's eighth-oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation's premier public research universities. Serving nearly 60,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers is one of only two New Jersey institutions represented in the prestigious Association of American Universities.