ECAC Mourns Loss of NCAA President Dr. Myles N. Brand
The death of Dr. Myles N. Brand, President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), has had a toll on the athletic community as a whole. Here at the ECAC, we have several staff members who have been colleagues and friends with Brand. The entire ECAC staff would like to send out condolences to Brand's family and friends.
Dea Shipps, Associate Commissioner for Internal Affairs/SWA at the ECAC, has worked directly with Brand when she was a staff member at the NCAA.
"Dr. Myles Brand was a change agent," said Shipps. "His commitment to academic reform, diversity and the integration of athletics in academia stand out when reflecting on his impact as president of the NCAA. During my time as a national office staff member, I recall having lunch with him and discussing matters related to the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC)-he was engaging, enlightening and critically aware of issues related to administrators of color. He sought to build bridges and create awareness- may his work live on."
ECAC Commissioner Rudy Keeling, a member of several NCAA
committees, has stated:
"Dr. Brand was the guiding light for intercollegiate athletics and
a true friend of the ECAC. He not only put the student first in
student-athlete, he also took the lead in championing diversity and
equality. His leadership and integrity will be sorely missed."
Steve Bamford, ECAC Administrator for Officiating and Special Projects, had a connection with Brand during Bamford's 2006 interim as commissioner.
"As interim commissioner, I invited him to the ECAC Convention in 2006 and he accepted. He spoke at the ECAC Honors Dinner and the next day was the keynote speaker at our Opening Session. What I remember most about Myles was his warm and friendly personality, his ability to effectively articulate the issues facing college athletics, his commitment to making the student athlete experience as positive and meaningful as possible, and his dedication to resurrecting the image of the student athlete (student first, athlete second). His promotion of his platform and agenda pursuant to academic reform in college athletics was refreshing, right on target and could not have come at a better time. He wanted to hold the student athletes accountable for their performance in the classroom as much as they were on the athletic field with the ultimate goal: a bachelor's degree."
The following obituary is courtesy of ncaa.org
Dr. Myles N. Brand, Ph.D. 1942-2009
Dr. Myles N. Brand, visionary leader, educator and reformer, who was serving as President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has died after a heroic battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67.
Brand took the helm of the NCAA in January, 2003. In his first state of the association address that year, Brand said his presidency would be structured on two platforms: academic reform and advocacy of intercollegiate athletics - promises Brand made good on in his six year tenure.
Termed by many the "education president," Brand presided over passage of the most comprehensive academic reform package for intercollegiate athletics in recent history - a package that refocused the attention of student-athletes, coaches and administrators on the education of student-athletes. Brand also changed the national dialog on college sports to emphasize the educational value of athletics participation and the integration of intercollegiate athletics with the academic mission of higher education. His tenure helped re-establish the indispensable role of university presidents in the governance of college sports.
During the eight years Brand served as president of Indiana University, the institution experienced tremendous growth in almost every area including record enrollments and fundraising. Research grants and contracts more than doubled; the size of the university's endowment and the number of endowed chairs and professorships grew threefold. He provided national leadership in the areas of life sciences and information technology, overseeing the development of the IU School of Informatics. Brand's many contributions were recognized this past spring with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Indiana University.
Born May 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, Brand was educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Rochester. He started his career in academia as a philosophy professor at the University of Pittsburgh in 1967. He then went on to the University of Illinois at Chicago where he began a rapid ascension in academic leadership positions that lead him to the University of Arizona, The Ohio State University, and the University of Oregon where he served as president for five years from 1989-1994. In 1994, Indiana University named Dr. Brand their sixteenth president, a post he held until he took over the presidency of the NCAA in 2003.
Brand is survived by his wife of 31 years, Dr. Peg Zeglin Brand, his son, Joshua (Cheryl Keenan), and two grandchildren - Cassidy and Megan - of Lexington, MA, and a sister Cheryl Rappaport (Ken) of Boca Raton, FL. A private service is planned for the family and a public tribute will take place in October in Indianapolis.
The family has requested that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to the Myles Brand Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Indiana University School of Medicine www.medicine.iu.edu or by contacting the Office of Gift Development at the IU School of Medicine, 1110 W. Michigan St., LO 506, Indianapolis, IN, 46202 or by calling (317) 278 -2130.
