Pitt announces athletic director search committee

Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher has appointed a 14-member search committee to recommend candidates to become the school’s next athletic director, according to a release on Tuesday.

Dr. Randy Juhl, Pitt’s vice chancellor and current acting athletic director, will chair the committee. Pitt also brought in DHR International, a Chicago-based search firm, to assist with finding candidates.

“We want to see athletics thrive in the context of being part of the university,” Gallagher said in the release. “I am certain that all of the members of the search committee understand and support that goal.”

Suzie McConnell-Serio, head women’s basketball coach and Alonzo Webb, the head track and field and cross country coach, are both part of the committee.

Current Pitt athletes on the committee include football center Artie Rowell and gymnast Lindsay Offutt, both of whom are on the Pitt Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which serves as a voice for university athletes in matters like rule changes and student athlete welfare..

Former athletic director Steve Pederson stepped down from the position at Pitt on Dec. 17, the same day that former football head coach Paul Chryst officially accepted the same position at the University of Wisconsin. Pederson served as Pitt’s athletic director in two separate stints from 1996-2002 and 2007-2014. In his time at Pitt, Pederson oversaw the creation of the Petersen Events Center and Pitt’s transition into the Atlantic Coast Conference.