GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) - The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today the 20-member Search Advisory Committee responsible for providing guidance and collecting information and feedback from member schools as part of the search process to select the conference’s next Commissioner. 

The Search Advisory Committee, led by co-chairs President Nathan Hatch (Wake Forest) and Rev. John Jenkins (Notre Dame), is comprised of a diverse array of stakeholders to inform the criteria involved in the search process. In addition to 15 conference administrators, including presidents, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletics representatives, the committee also includes five student-athletes to ensure their perspectives are represented. 

“The Search Advisory Committee will play an important role in helping us define the qualities we are looking for in our next Commissioner,” said ACC Board Chair Kent Syverud (Syracuse). “By bringing together a diverse group of people from across the ACC to inform our process, including our student-athletes, we will position ourselves to find highly qualified candidates, and ultimately select the right Commissioner to lead the conference into the next era.”

Earlier this month, the ACC announced Turnkey Search, a division of Turnkey Sports & Entertainment, had been hired to support the conference in conducting the search process. In addition, Turnkey has partnered with Chad Chatlos and Katy Young Staudt to further support the search.  Turnkey is currently engaged in a month-long discovery process to collect information, opinions, suggestions and other input from a comprehensive group of conference leaders and student-athletes that will inform the work of the Search Advisory Committee.   

The full 15-member ACC Board of Directors will interview the finalists and select the next Commissioner. 

The ACC Commissioner search will be conducted during the 2020-21 academic year with the intention of the new Commissioner being in place by summer 2021.

Members of the ACC Search Advisory Committee include:

• Jocelyn Fisher Gates, Senior Woman Administrator, Boston College 
• Stephanie Ellison-Johnson, Senior Woman Administrator, Clemson University 
• Kevin White, Athletics Director, Duke University
• Morgan Jones, Student-Athlete, Florida State University (Women’s Basketball) 
• John Thrasher, President, Florida State University
• Baratunde (Bara) Cola, Faculty Athletics Representative, Georgia Tech
• Christine Herring, Senior Woman Administrator, University of Louisville
• Blake James, Athletics Director, University of Miami
• Kevin Guskiewicz, Chancellor, University of North Carolina
• Rachel Jones, Student-Athlete, University of North Carolina (Women’s Soccer)
• Leon Krapf, Student-Athlete, North Carolina State University (Men’s Soccer)
• Joel Pawlak, Faculty Athletics Representative, North Carolina State University
• Rev. John Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame *
• Jack Sheehan, Student-Athlete, University of Notre Dame (Baseball)
• Heather Lyke, Athletics Director, University of Pittsburgh
• Kingsley Jonathan, Student-Athlete, Syracuse University (Football)
• John Wildhack, Athletics Director, Syracuse University
• Carla Williams, Athletics Director, University of Virginia
• Timothy Sands, President, Virginia Tech
• Nathan Hatch, President, Wake Forest University *

 * Co-chairs of the Search Advisory Committee
 
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, now in its 68th year of competition and 15 members strong, has long enjoyed the reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest continue to build upon the cornerstones on which the league was founded in 1953 with a consistent balance of academics, athletics and integrity. The ACC currently sponsors 27 NCAA sports – 14 for women and 13 for men – with member institutions located in 10 states. In August 2019, ESPN and the ACC partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports and league-wide original programming.  For more information, visit theACC.com and follow @theACC on Twitter and on Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).