Yesterday NCAA Senior Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Jim Isch was named interim president of the Association, following the death of President Myles Brand. Isch will assume the role until a permanent successor is named.

As a member-run institution, it is the responsibility of the NCAA membership to conduct the search for a new president. That responsibility is discharged by the NCAA Executive Committee, chaired by Michael Adams, president of the University of Georgia. The Executive Committee is the highest governance body in the NCAA and is comprised of institutional chief executive officers that oversee Association-wide issues.

NCAA staff members are not involved with the search.

Although there is no official timetable for hiring a new president, it took 351 days from the retirement announcement of Cedric W. Dempsey to the appointment of President Brand.

In making the interim announcement, Adams was clear that no further information on the search for the new president would be made public until after the executive committee meets on October 29. "This will be a broad, open, national search for anyone who wishes to apply," he said. "I don't want to dwell on that today until I've had a chance to meet with the full Executive Committee. Our goal today is singular, and that is to introduce the interim president."

In his first press conference following the announcement, Isch pledged to continue the direction defined by Brand. "In the coming months I intend to move that agenda," he said. "To put that in simple terms, it will continue to focus on academic reform, fiscal responsibility, continued integration of athletics and academics and a continued emphasis on student-athlete well-being."