My second week of the fall semester was another busy one filled with a lot of events and meetings. But I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to connect with many more students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and community members.

Introducing our new athletics director

As you’ve probably heard by now, our search for a new athletics director has ended successfully. Last week, we announced that Patrick Ransdell will be our next director of intercollegiate athletics.

We held a news conference in the Plaster Student Union Theater on Friday to introduce him and his wonderful family to the campus and larger community. We had a great turnout and the energy in the theater was palpable!

I’m thrilled to have Patrick at the helm of Missouri State athletics as we prepare to make the exciting transition to Conference USA next year. It’s going to take all of us — in one way or another — to help our athletics department really rise to the occasion for Conference USA. Our first step was to find the right athletics director and we did that.

Patrick has over 20 years of experience in athletics administration at six different institutions. He’s a strategist with a proven record in revenue generation. He understands and values external collaborations. He’s experienced in recruiting and retaining great coaches. He also knows what it takes to give student-athletes the best possible collegiate experience.

A word of thanks

I want to say a big thank you to the search committee led by Brent Dunn, vice president for university advancement. The time and effort he and his team put into ensuring a positive outcome for this search are much appreciated.

Thanks for checking in. It’s a great day to be a Bear!

Biff