Andy Geiger, former athletic director for five NCAA Division I programs including Ohio State and Stanford University, has been named athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He begins immediately.

"We believe Andy Geiger possesses the leadership qualities to bring stability and continuity to UWM Athletics during this transitional phase," said Chancellor Michael R. Lovell.

"During his extremely distinguished career, Andy has gained an unparalleled breadth of experiences that will allow him to fully support our coaches and to significantly enhance the collegiate experiences of our athletic department's greatest asset: UWM's student-athletes. His administrative and facilities-development expertise will also be immensely helpful as UWM embarks on a campus-wide strategic planning process."

"The opportunity to be part of the leadership team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is ideal for me," said Geiger. "I am ready to apply the experience of 35 years as a Division 1 athletic director to the student-athletes, coaches and staff at UWM. I look forward eagerly to being part of the UWM community.

"Especially meaningful personally is the fact that I will be working just a few blocks from where my father was born and raised. So this is, in a unique way, a kind of homecoming.

"And so, with great energy and a deep commitment to serve UW-Milwaukee, I am proud to say 'Go Panthers'."

Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone said: "Andy Geiger is one of the outstanding leaders in intercollegiate athletics, and Milwaukee is fortunate to have someone of his experience and wisdom to guide its program. We are excited to have him as part of our Horizon League family and we all will benefit greatly from his expertise."

Among Geiger's many honors are being named to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame in 2010 and receiving the Division 1A Directors of Athletics 2009 Homer Rice Award, which is presented annually to an athletics director with a distinguished career who has made a significant impact on the profession and intercollegiate athletics.

At Ohio State, Geiger led one of the largest athletic departments in the country with 36 sports and nearly 1,000 student-athletes for 11 years (1994-2005).

During that time, student-athletes excelled both in the classroom and their sports. In his final two years, Ohio State had more student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team than any other school. Teams won 15 national championships.

He oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars of construction projects, including the building of six athletic facilities and the renovation of four others.

Among the construction projects:

• Jerome Schottenstein Center (basketball, $110 million construction budget, 19,200 seats),
• Bill Davis Stadium (baseball, $4.7 million, 4,450 seats),
• Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (track and field, and soccer, $11 million, 10,000 seats) and
• Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion (swimming and diving, $33 million, 1,400 seats).

He also oversaw the $194 million renovation of Ohio Stadium from 1999-2001 that pushed its capacity for football to more than 101,000 seats. According to Ohio State University, the renovation employed a creative financing plan in which no university or student monies were used during the renovation process.

In addition to Geiger's service to Ohio State, he also was athletic director at University of Maryland, College Park (1990-94), Stanford (1979-90), University of Pennsylvania (1975-79) and Brown University (1971-75).