Member Profile: Lisa Love

Lisa Love, a former volleyball coach who climbed through the administrative ranks at the University of Southern California, was named Athletics Director at Arizona State this past Saturday.

Lisa, senior associate athletic director at USC and 2002 NACWAA Institute for Athletics Executives graduate, replaces Gene Smith, who resigned to become athletic director at Ohio State. She signed a five-year contract with ASU that includes both academic and athletic performance incentives. Her official title is Vice President for University Athletics.

“I am committed to making Arizona State University consistently a nationally elite athletics program that just takes names and wins championships, “ Love said at a news conference. “I’m all about that. I’ve enjoyed 15 years at USC. I’ve enjoyed a mentality of thinking big and dreaming big.”

Dr. Crow indicated that through out the search he identified Love as his prime candidate for the Athletic Director position. "Lisa was our first choice,” said Crow. “Lisa is our best choice. She’s the best candidate for this job that we found after looking across the entire country. Lisa has the energy, competitiveness and drive to move ASU's Athletic Department into the next level. Her philosophy for success will be instrumental in building ASU's Athletic Department through student achievement, community engagement and winning."

Of note, Lisa Love becomes the second woman director of athletics in the Pac-10. The other is Sandy Barbour of the University of California, Berkeley.

For the complete article, go online at http://arizonastate.scout.com/2/373209.html .